abstract
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This chapter provides an overview of the key foundational concepts and principles of the study of complex systems. First, a definition for system is provided, and the distinctions between complicated and complex systems are demarcated, as are detail, disorganized, organized, and dynamic types of complexity. Common properties across complex systems are defined and described, including stable states and steady states, path dependence, resilience, critical transitions and tipping points, early warning signals, feedback loops, and nonlinearity. This chapter also delves into how complex issues often consist of networks, with random, scale-free, and small world networks defined and network concepts such as degrees, path length, and heterogeneity defined. The concept of emergence is also emphasized, as well as related principles such as adaptation and self-organization. Cardiometabolic disease (and associated comorbidities) is used in this chapter as a thematic population health example.