John H. Holland Quotes

John Henry Holland was an American scientist and Professor of psychology and Professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was a pioneer in what became known as genetic algorithms. Wikipedia

✵ 2. February 1929 – 9. August 2015

John H. Holland: 19 quotes0 likes

Famous John H. Holland Quotes

“When a new building block is discovered, the result is usually a range of innovations.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 2. Adaptive Systems, p. 62

“There is more of a mystery to the origin of the pin factory that Adam Smith (1776) discusses in his Wealth of Nations than is generally realized.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 3. Echoing Emergence, p. 97

“This use of building blocks to generate internal models is a pervasive feature of complex adaptive systems.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 37

“nonlinear interactions almost always make the behavior of the aggregate more complicated than would be predicted by summing or averaging.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 23

“Particular individuals do not recur, but their building blocks do.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 2. Adaptive Systems, p. 79

“The end point, a cas simulation with a realistic interface, is highly desirable, because it enables an ecologist, or economist, or politician to try out alternatives that could not possibly tried in real systems.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 4. Simulating Echo, p. 158

John H. Holland Quotes

“Model building is the art of selecting those aspects of a process that are relevant to the question being asked.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 4. Simulating Echo, p. 146
Context: Model building is the art of selecting those aspects of a process that are relevant to the question being asked. As with any art, this selection is guided by taste, elegance, and metaphor; it is a matter of induction, rather than deduction. High science depends on this art.

“High science depends on this art.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 4. Simulating Echo, p. 146
Context: Model building is the art of selecting those aspects of a process that are relevant to the question being asked. As with any art, this selection is guided by taste, elegance, and metaphor; it is a matter of induction, rather than deduction. High science depends on this art.

“The multiplier effect is a major feature of networks and flows. It arises regardless of the particular nature of the resource, be it goods, money, or messages.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 25

“With theory, we can separate fundamental characteristics from fascinating idiosyncrasies and incidental features. Theory supplies landmarks and guideposts, and we begin to know what to observe and where to act.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 5

“If there is to be a competition, there must be some basis for resolving it. It is also clear that the competition should be experienced based.”

John H. Holland

, p. 53
Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 2. Adaptive Systems

“Even though these complex systems differ in detail, the question of coherence under change is the central enigma for each.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 4

“If we are to understand the interactions of a large number of agents, we must first be able to describe the capabilities of individual agents.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 7

“Unwrapping occurs when the "solution" is explicitly built into the program from the start.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 3. Echoing Emergence, p. 137

“Looking back to data, we can see if the consequences are plausible; looking forward to theory, we can see if general principles are suggested.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 3. Echoing Emergence, p. 97

“The measure of performance of any given agent is the amount of money it accumulates through its actions.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 2. Adaptive Systems, p. 86

“The recycling of resource by the aggregate behavior of a diverse array of agents is much more than the sum of the individual actions.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 1. Basic Elements, p. 31

“Evolution continually innovates, but at each level it conserves the elements that are recombined to yield the innovations.”

John H. Holland

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 2. Adaptive Systems, p. 80

“"Doing science," particularly the synthesis of disparate ideas, is not as arcane as it is often made out to be. Discipline and taste play a vital role, but the activity is familiar to anyone who has made some effort to be creative.”

John H. Holland

Preface, p. xix
Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995)

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