New parts of such systems, for example, ecosystems or higher organisms, appear only when suitable niches and adequate resources exist, so their presence makes sense and does not contribute to chaos. Complicated structures tend to be fragile, as is evident in the booms and busts of modern economies, or in the devastating impact of varying the availability of one ingredient, say, oil. In contrast, complex systems are resilient and relatively stable. They are constituted so their subunits, by systematic cooperation, preserve their integral configuration of structure and behavior and tend to restore it after nondestructive disturbances. In other words, natural systems survive all disasters short of obliteration.
Complexity is an essential characteristic of both wisdom and wilderness .
Both are mature states, reached only after passing beyond periods of fragmentation toward higher forms of integration. They occur as the products of accumulated events in a natural progression over long periods of time. Planning and managing are seldom adequate to encourage either wisdom or wilderness, for much of their structure is the product of responses to unanticipated changes. Error and surprise are more central to wisdom and wilderness than logical progressions or achieved objectives. Tolerance for change and diversity is more characteristic of them than a rigid order and commitment to rules.