On Interpreting Scale (or View) and Emergence in Complex Systems Engineering

A human-centric treatment of the concepts of multi-scale analysis and emergence in complex systems engineering (CSE) is offered. This includes an attempt to characterize what an individual might do in conceptualizing a given systems engineering situation she/he is facing. The goal is to suggest fresh interpretations of the terms scale and emergence that will contribute to a more collaborative approach to improving the CSE practice. Because other authors use "scale" in several different ways, potentially causing confusion, this author proposes "view" instead. Here a given view is defined as a combination of "scope", "granularity", "mindset", and "timeframe". Although "emergence" has a rich spectrum of definitions in the literature, this author prefers to emphasize the unexpected, especially "surprising", flavor of emergence.