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I wonder if the process of building a complex web can be reduced to a simple set of rules, almost like a cellular automata.

The simple rulesets which lead to complex outcomes in nature is amazing to me.

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Many years ago when I was working IT for a public school district, I was unpacking a large number of identical HP PCs from cardboard boxes. I noticed that a large portion (it must have been half or more) of the boxes had the exact same type of spider in a nearly identical web in the exact same spot in the cardboard box. It was a small cardboard cubby taped onto the inside of the large exterior box, for storing a power cord and other small accessories. It must have been just the right shape and size, and accessible in just the right way, that this type of spider absolutely loved it.

simple nets for sure, but spiders can easily deal with an uncountable number of corner cases, I somehow think it's not reducible to all-too simple rules (in the 'game of life' sense) and more an interaction of several non-trivially complex systems like their various perception systems.

obviously their neural networks are limited in size and therefor complexity has to remain somewhat simple relatively to larger animals).

https://xkcd.com/1135/

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