Systems are complicated. Indeed, we are just beginning to understand how complicated and unpredictable they are. And they include everything from biological ecologies to global weather.

Systems are integrated. Each part of a system is connected to all the other parts, so that any change in any part influences all the other parts. Usually, small changes are absorbed into the system with little apparent effect. But introduce enough changes, or alter key components, and something unpredictable happens. In Systems Theory, this is called “emergence”, and is marked by a sudden and unpredictable restructuring of the entire system.