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Abstract

We live in a world of interconnected systems. In fact, as humans, each of us is a highly complex system living in a host of socio-political-technological systems that are no less complex. In order to understand and design complex systems, it is necessary to have a methodology and a language for building models that can express what these systems do, why they do it, how they do it, and what they need in order to do it. While the visual and intuitive nature of diagrams has made them widely used means for building models of systems, natural language text is also an important way of conveying complex ideas. Formal diagrams are a graphic language in that they contain interconnected symbols, expressing meaningful facts and statements about the world. Combining graphics with text reinforces our ability to specify complex ideas in science and engineering.