[Doctor Stochastic]

There are several interesting examples of self-organizing structures arising "randomly."

The classic example is that of dropping sand grains onto a pile. After the pile gets large, the drop of one grain can cause a few grains to fall or trigger a huge number to fall. Analysis of the structures shows that the grains support each other in intricatly connected filamants. Slightly different initial conditions lead to vastly different structures.

(Based on watching the Cerro Grande Fire from too close.) The distribution of fuel (fir, spruce, pine, piñon, juniper, grass) causes fire to spread "where the fire wants" rather than along predictable lines. The growth patterns depend on mostly wind-blown seeds which randomly arrive on the ground.

Avalanches exhibit such behavior also. The snow forms self-supporting structures similar to those in sandpiles. Small perturbations may make a snow angel or trigger a whole mountainside to collapse.

Capitalist economic structures also form complex structures. Local conditions often dominate the placement of buildings and of what suppliers and customers an enterprise may have. (Designed economies such as the socialist, communist, fascist, Clintonian, etc. don't work as well.)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the explanation and the examples!

I didn't realize that a self-organizing structure could be actualized by an external force!

[gore3000]

Capitalist economic structures also form complex structures. Local conditions often dominate the placement of buildings and of what suppliers and customers an enterprise may have. (Designed economies such as the socialist, communist, fascist, Clintonian, etc. don't work as well.)

Capitalist economies may look random, but they are not. The look random because they have so many inputs - some 6 billion of them. They use the insight and intelligence of the whole world to work. The reason that managed economies do not work is that it uses the input of only a few. So really the difference is that capitalist economies have more intelligence behind them than managed ones.