Ancient Greeks manages to build their world inside a machine: cosmic time and social time moved together in the same box.
And we barely understand how. Maybe because they were thinking differently.
#ComplexityThoughts
manlius.substack.com/p/the-world-...
And we barely understand how. Maybe because they were thinking differently.
#ComplexityThoughts
manlius.substack.com/p/the-world-...
The world inside the machine
Why predicting the world can be easier than understanding it
manlius.substack.com
October 28, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Ancient Greeks manages to build their world inside a machine: cosmic time and social time moved together in the same box.
And we barely understand how. Maybe because they were thinking differently.
#ComplexityThoughts
manlius.substack.com/p/the-world-...
And we barely understand how. Maybe because they were thinking differently.
#ComplexityThoughts
manlius.substack.com/p/the-world-...
A HON is not strictly required by higher-order dynamics.
Today, in this new #ComplexityThoughts we discuss how and whether it is the best scientific representation and under which conditions.
This time we ask Newton and Kepler for some help.
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/when-is-a-...
Today, in this new #ComplexityThoughts we discuss how and whether it is the best scientific representation and under which conditions.
This time we ask Newton and Kepler for some help.
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/when-is-a-...
September 28, 2026 at 8:55 AM
A HON is not strictly required by higher-order dynamics.
Today, in this new #ComplexityThoughts we discuss how and whether it is the best scientific representation and under which conditions.
This time we ask Newton and Kepler for some help.
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/when-is-a-...
Today, in this new #ComplexityThoughts we discuss how and whether it is the best scientific representation and under which conditions.
This time we ask Newton and Kepler for some help.
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/when-is-a-...
The debate about higher-order networks continues.
It’s moving towards a fruitful discussion, but it needs time.
I unpack for #ComplexityThoughts my take on a recent paper appeared on the arXiv:
manlius.substack.com/p/do-higher-...
#ComplexSystems
It’s moving towards a fruitful discussion, but it needs time.
I unpack for #ComplexityThoughts my take on a recent paper appeared on the arXiv:
manlius.substack.com/p/do-higher-...
#ComplexSystems
September 21, 2026 at 5:47 PM
The debate about higher-order networks continues.
It’s moving towards a fruitful discussion, but it needs time.
I unpack for #ComplexityThoughts my take on a recent paper appeared on the arXiv:
manlius.substack.com/p/do-higher-...
#ComplexSystems
It’s moving towards a fruitful discussion, but it needs time.
I unpack for #ComplexityThoughts my take on a recent paper appeared on the arXiv:
manlius.substack.com/p/do-higher-...
#ComplexSystems
#ComplexityThoughts #90: fungal webs 🍄 + nanoparticle graphs ⚛️ + robot fish 🐟🤖 + deep-life microbes 🦠. Add wildlife pathogens, a dash of superintelligence tests 🧠, neural nets at the edge of chaos, and 8.2M synthetic molecules 🧪
Stir until complexity emerges 🌀
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
Stir until complexity emerges 🌀
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
Complexity Thoughts: Issue #90
Unraveling complexity: building knowledge, one paper at a time
manlius.substack.com
September 20, 2026 at 5:57 AM
#ComplexityThoughts #90: fungal webs 🍄 + nanoparticle graphs ⚛️ + robot fish 🐟🤖 + deep-life microbes 🦠. Add wildlife pathogens, a dash of superintelligence tests 🧠, neural nets at the edge of chaos, and 8.2M synthetic molecules 🧪
Stir until complexity emerges 🌀
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
Stir until complexity emerges 🌀
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
Sorry, but AI did not officially solve Navier–Stokes. Yet.
It seems that someone should say that, in this AI madness.
This is how rigor gets traded for virality.
And it is also how propAIganda works.
#ComplexityThoughts
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/no-ai-hasn...
It seems that someone should say that, in this AI madness.
This is how rigor gets traded for virality.
And it is also how propAIganda works.
#ComplexityThoughts
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/no-ai-hasn...
No, AI hasn’t officially solved Navier–Stokes. Yet
PropAIganda, now with a Millennium Prize Problem
manlius.substack.com
September 10, 2026 at 7:02 AM
Sorry, but AI did not officially solve Navier–Stokes. Yet.
It seems that someone should say that, in this AI madness.
This is how rigor gets traded for virality.
And it is also how propAIganda works.
#ComplexityThoughts
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/no-ai-hasn...
It seems that someone should say that, in this AI madness.
This is how rigor gets traded for virality.
And it is also how propAIganda works.
#ComplexityThoughts
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/no-ai-hasn...
There is much more, and I’m writing a full #ComplexityThoughts piece on the mechanism, the assumptions and what “cognitive immunization” could actually mean. Stay tuned!
👉 manlius.substack.com
👉 manlius.substack.com
September 9, 2026 at 3:50 PM
There is much more, and I’m writing a full #ComplexityThoughts piece on the mechanism, the assumptions and what “cognitive immunization” could actually mean. Stay tuned!
👉 manlius.substack.com
👉 manlius.substack.com
Our efforts to counter misinformation about AI will never be enough.
But we should keep trying. Here is my short piece for #ComplexityThoughts on how an AI incident turned into an AI apocalypse on social media.
This is part of a phenomenon I call propAIganda.
manlius.substack.com/p/propaigand...
But we should keep trying. Here is my short piece for #ComplexityThoughts on how an AI incident turned into an AI apocalypse on social media.
This is part of a phenomenon I call propAIganda.
manlius.substack.com/p/propaigand...
September 2, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Our efforts to counter misinformation about AI will never be enough.
But we should keep trying. Here is my short piece for #ComplexityThoughts on how an AI incident turned into an AI apocalypse on social media.
This is part of a phenomenon I call propAIganda.
manlius.substack.com/p/propaigand...
But we should keep trying. Here is my short piece for #ComplexityThoughts on how an AI incident turned into an AI apocalypse on social media.
This is part of a phenomenon I call propAIganda.
manlius.substack.com/p/propaigand...
🚨 Chapter 4 of Decoding the Architecture of Living Systems is out in #ComplexityThoughts! 🌏🌐🧪🦠
After discussing why living systems have no architect, why they cannot store complete blueprints and why loops matter for feedback, I now move to hierarchy.
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
After discussing why living systems have no architect, why they cannot store complete blueprints and why loops matter for feedback, I now move to hierarchy.
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
August 25, 2026 at 10:30 AM
🚨 Chapter 4 of Decoding the Architecture of Living Systems is out in #ComplexityThoughts! 🌏🌐🧪🦠
After discussing why living systems have no architect, why they cannot store complete blueprints and why loops matter for feedback, I now move to hierarchy.
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
After discussing why living systems have no architect, why they cannot store complete blueprints and why loops matter for feedback, I now move to hierarchy.
👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
They argue that it's time to move beyond looking at individual models and start looking at the entire AI ecosystem.
Read more on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/mapping-th...
/fin
Read more on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/mapping-th...
/fin
Mapping the ecosystem behind artificial intelligence
The network of AI models reveals an expanding genealogy of reuse, modification and recombination.
manlius.substack.com
August 19, 2026 at 5:27 PM
They argue that it's time to move beyond looking at individual models and start looking at the entire AI ecosystem.
Read more on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/mapping-th...
/fin
Read more on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/mapping-th...
/fin
Feed: "Complexity Thoughts"
By: Manlio De Domenico, Ph.D. on Thursday, July 31, 2025
By: Manlio De Domenico, Ph.D. on Thursday, July 31, 2025
An Update on #ComplexityThoughts
Sustaining the journey together
manlius.substack.com
August 1, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Feed: "Complexity Thoughts"
By: Manlio De Domenico, Ph.D. on Thursday, July 31, 2025
By: Manlio De Domenico, Ph.D. on Thursday, July 31, 2025
Complexity Science enthusiast?
A Christmas 🎄 🎁 for your holiday readings: a curated list of 2024's short #ComplexityThoughts essays, including posts and podcast episodes.
28 more Issues covering almost 200+ papers also available.
A Christmas 🎄 🎁 for your holiday readings: a curated list of 2024's short #ComplexityThoughts essays, including posts and podcast episodes.
28 more Issues covering almost 200+ papers also available.
This 2024 I’ve been humbled by conversations on #ComplexityThoughts and its (unexpected) growth.
From the risks of new pandemics to the promises of AI, from climate change to evolution, I explored many systems through the lens of #complexity science balancing the technical w/ the accessible.
🧵1/
From the risks of new pandemics to the promises of AI, from climate change to evolution, I explored many systems through the lens of #complexity science balancing the technical w/ the accessible.
🧵1/
December 28, 2024 at 3:19 PM
Complexity Science enthusiast?
A Christmas 🎄 🎁 for your holiday readings: a curated list of 2024's short #ComplexityThoughts essays, including posts and podcast episodes.
28 more Issues covering almost 200+ papers also available.
A Christmas 🎄 🎁 for your holiday readings: a curated list of 2024's short #ComplexityThoughts essays, including posts and podcast episodes.
28 more Issues covering almost 200+ papers also available.
The #ComplexityThoughts are always worth reading or listening, but the opening part of this issue is particularly interesting 😉
Thanks Manlio for including our work relating microbial dynamics to the fluctuation-dissipation framework in physics 🦠
Thanks Manlio for including our work relating microbial dynamics to the fluctuation-dissipation framework in physics 🦠
🚨 New #ComplexityThoughts is out, Issue #49 🧪 🌐 🧠 🦠
As usual, here the links:
📝 Post: manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
🎧 Podcast: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/com...
👀 RSS: manlius.substack.com/feed
👉 Like it? Join us! It's free.
As usual, here the links:
📝 Post: manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
🎧 Podcast: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/com...
👀 RSS: manlius.substack.com/feed
👉 Like it? Join us! It's free.
Complexity Thoughts: Issue #49
Unraveling complexity: building knowledge, one paper at a time
manlius.substack.com
December 13, 2024 at 9:01 PM
The #ComplexityThoughts are always worth reading or listening, but the opening part of this issue is particularly interesting 😉
Thanks Manlio for including our work relating microbial dynamics to the fluctuation-dissipation framework in physics 🦠
Thanks Manlio for including our work relating microbial dynamics to the fluctuation-dissipation framework in physics 🦠
Complexity does not begin when prediction becomes impossible.
It begins when following everything is no longer the right way to predict!
A brief overview in #ComplexityThoughts of the Dirac Medal 2026 and statistical physics of complex systems.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
It begins when following everything is no longer the right way to predict!
A brief overview in #ComplexityThoughts of the Dirac Medal 2026 and statistical physics of complex systems.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
When statistical physics escaped matter
The 2026 Dirac Medal celebrates Derrida, Dhar, Mézard and Sompolinsky, and a way of doing physics travelling far beyond its original domain
open.substack.com
August 11, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Complexity does not begin when prediction becomes impossible.
It begins when following everything is no longer the right way to predict!
A brief overview in #ComplexityThoughts of the Dirac Medal 2026 and statistical physics of complex systems.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
It begins when following everything is no longer the right way to predict!
A brief overview in #ComplexityThoughts of the Dirac Medal 2026 and statistical physics of complex systems.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
🙏 Thank you all for this new incredible milestone: 300,000 views of #ComplexityThoughts!
To celebrate, I made a short film about the way I tend to look at the world, starting from the visual seeds already present in our characteristic graphics. 🌏🌐🧪
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9iS...
To celebrate, I made a short film about the way I tend to look at the world, starting from the visual seeds already present in our characteristic graphics. 🌏🌐🧪
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9iS...
What you see is only the surface | Complexity Thoughts
YouTube video by Manlio De Domenico
www.youtube.com
August 10, 2026 at 1:44 PM
🙏 Thank you all for this new incredible milestone: 300,000 views of #ComplexityThoughts!
To celebrate, I made a short film about the way I tend to look at the world, starting from the visual seeds already present in our characteristic graphics. 🌏🌐🧪
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9iS...
To celebrate, I made a short film about the way I tend to look at the world, starting from the visual seeds already present in our characteristic graphics. 🌏🌐🧪
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9iS...
And Chapter 3 of #ComplexityThoughts is out!
If robustness cannot come from adding links without limit, which structures allow living systems to withstand perturbations?
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-the-architecture-of-living-e8f
🧵 1/
If robustness cannot come from adding links without limit, which structures allow living systems to withstand perturbations?
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-the-architecture-of-living-e8f
🧵 1/
July 20, 2026 at 1:51 PM
And Chapter 3 of #ComplexityThoughts is out!
If robustness cannot come from adding links without limit, which structures allow living systems to withstand perturbations?
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-the-architecture-of-living-e8f
🧵 1/
If robustness cannot come from adding links without limit, which structures allow living systems to withstand perturbations?
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-the-architecture-of-living-e8f
🧵 1/
Chapter 2 of this #ComplexityThoughts series is out.
If living systems have “architecture” w/o an architect: where is this architecture “stored”?
Read 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
Feat. @ricardsole.bsky.social @wiringthebrain.bsky.social @hectorzenil.bsky.social
🧵 1/
If living systems have “architecture” w/o an architect: where is this architecture “stored”?
Read 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
Feat. @ricardsole.bsky.social @wiringthebrain.bsky.social @hectorzenil.bsky.social
🧵 1/
July 6, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Chapter 2 of this #ComplexityThoughts series is out.
If living systems have “architecture” w/o an architect: where is this architecture “stored”?
Read 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
Feat. @ricardsole.bsky.social @wiringthebrain.bsky.social @hectorzenil.bsky.social
🧵 1/
If living systems have “architecture” w/o an architect: where is this architecture “stored”?
Read 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
Feat. @ricardsole.bsky.social @wiringthebrain.bsky.social @hectorzenil.bsky.social
🧵 1/
The Internet is an emblematic example that robustness is about preserving function while perturbations keep moving and propagating through the system.
Topology gives a map, while functionality drives the pulse.
Upcoming #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/what-netwo...
#ComplexSystems
Topology gives a map, while functionality drives the pulse.
Upcoming #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/what-netwo...
#ComplexSystems
June 28, 2026 at 11:52 AM
The Internet is an emblematic example that robustness is about preserving function while perturbations keep moving and propagating through the system.
Topology gives a map, while functionality drives the pulse.
Upcoming #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/what-netwo...
#ComplexSystems
Topology gives a map, while functionality drives the pulse.
Upcoming #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/what-netwo...
#ComplexSystems
New short series of posts for #ComplexityThoughts – based on my recent papers – concerning a question that has been “consuming” most of my attention over the last years: can “architecture” be a scientific concept for living systems?
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
Decoding the “Architecture” of Living Systems: Chapter 1
DALV-01: Life has no architect, yet it has architecture (shaped by constraints rather than designed like a machine)
manlius.substack.com
June 20, 2026 at 5:09 PM
New short series of posts for #ComplexityThoughts – based on my recent papers – concerning a question that has been “consuming” most of my attention over the last years: can “architecture” be a scientific concept for living systems?
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
Read it here 👉 manlius.substack.com/p/decoding-t...
🧵 1/
In the Issue #84 of #ComplexityThoughts you will find latest research on evolution, biology, biogeosciences, economics, and foundations of complex systems (including some reflections about network functionality).
#ComplexSystems 🧪🌐🧬🦠🌍
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
#ComplexSystems 🧪🌐🧬🦠🌍
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
Complexity Thoughts: Issue #84
Unraveling complexity: building knowledge, one paper at a time
manlius.substack.com
June 16, 2026 at 7:45 AM
In the Issue #84 of #ComplexityThoughts you will find latest research on evolution, biology, biogeosciences, economics, and foundations of complex systems (including some reflections about network functionality).
#ComplexSystems 🧪🌐🧬🦠🌍
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
#ComplexSystems 🧪🌐🧬🦠🌍
manlius.substack.com/p/complexity...
We often describe AI as software.
Increasingly, it looks like infrastructure: data centers, power grids, cooling systems, supply chains.
If intelligence scales through computation, who bears the cost of scaling computation?
#ComplexityThoughts
Read it 👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
Increasingly, it looks like infrastructure: data centers, power grids, cooling systems, supply chains.
If intelligence scales through computation, who bears the cost of scaling computation?
#ComplexityThoughts
Read it 👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
Is AI scaling our civilization?
The co-evolution of computation, energy, and information is reshaping our infrastructure, forcing us to rethink how we measure progress.
open.substack.com
June 3, 2026 at 4:21 PM
We often describe AI as software.
Increasingly, it looks like infrastructure: data centers, power grids, cooling systems, supply chains.
If intelligence scales through computation, who bears the cost of scaling computation?
#ComplexityThoughts
Read it 👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
Increasingly, it looks like infrastructure: data centers, power grids, cooling systems, supply chains.
If intelligence scales through computation, who bears the cost of scaling computation?
#ComplexityThoughts
Read it 👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
Don’t miss #ComplexityThoughts: Issue #83
This week you will find latest research on AI, biology and population dynamics.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
This week you will find latest research on AI, biology and population dynamics.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
May 25, 2026 at 6:28 AM
Don’t miss #ComplexityThoughts: Issue #83
This week you will find latest research on AI, biology and population dynamics.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
This week you will find latest research on AI, biology and population dynamics.
open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
A computer worm, an online rumor and a zombie apocalypse are not the same thing.
Despite that, they can share a similar mathematical skeleton: contact changes state and state changes propagate.
Last essay for #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/the-power-...
Despite that, they can share a similar mathematical skeleton: contact changes state and state changes propagate.
Last essay for #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/the-power-...
May 18, 2026 at 7:12 AM
A computer worm, an online rumor and a zombie apocalypse are not the same thing.
Despite that, they can share a similar mathematical skeleton: contact changes state and state changes propagate.
Last essay for #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/the-power-...
Despite that, they can share a similar mathematical skeleton: contact changes state and state changes propagate.
Last essay for #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/the-power-...
If you’re tracking how ideas evolve across complex systems, #ComplexityThoughts is the Newsletter where I map them with 3,700+ readers, since 2022.
🎧 Also available as a “deep-dive” podcast on Spotify and Apple.
🎧 Also available as a “deep-dive” podcast on Spotify and Apple.
May 12, 2026 at 7:07 AM
If you’re tracking how ideas evolve across complex systems, #ComplexityThoughts is the Newsletter where I map them with 3,700+ readers, since 2022.
🎧 Also available as a “deep-dive” podcast on Spotify and Apple.
🎧 Also available as a “deep-dive” podcast on Spotify and Apple.
As usual, I’ve been mapping recent results in complexity science across disciplines, from evolution to neuroscience, from biological systems to foundations.
Curious? Issue #82 of #ComplexityThoughts is out: from complexity to insight. Link in the first comment
👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
Curious? Issue #82 of #ComplexityThoughts is out: from complexity to insight. Link in the first comment
👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
May 12, 2026 at 7:07 AM
As usual, I’ve been mapping recent results in complexity science across disciplines, from evolution to neuroscience, from biological systems to foundations.
Curious? Issue #82 of #ComplexityThoughts is out: from complexity to insight. Link in the first comment
👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
Curious? Issue #82 of #ComplexityThoughts is out: from complexity to insight. Link in the first comment
👉 open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...
The image of Earth as a pale blue dot is often used to emphasize how small we are.
We are not just small: we are moving, collectively, within a vast dynamical system whose boundaries are defined by flow.
We are explorers.
Read it on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/living-in-...
We are not just small: we are moving, collectively, within a vast dynamical system whose boundaries are defined by flow.
We are explorers.
Read it on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/living-in-...
April 30, 2026 at 8:23 AM
The image of Earth as a pale blue dot is often used to emphasize how small we are.
We are not just small: we are moving, collectively, within a vast dynamical system whose boundaries are defined by flow.
We are explorers.
Read it on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/living-in-...
We are not just small: we are moving, collectively, within a vast dynamical system whose boundaries are defined by flow.
We are explorers.
Read it on #ComplexityThoughts: manlius.substack.com/p/living-in-...