I will discuss the merits of an algorithmic approach to the analysis of complex self-organizing systems. I will argue that computer science, and algorithms in particular, offer a fruitful perspective on the complex dynamics of multiagent systems: for example, opinion dynamics, bird flocking, and firefly synchronization. I will give many examples and try to touch on some of the theory behind them, with an emphasis on their algorithmic nature and the particular challenges to machine learning that an algorithmic approach to dynamical systems raises.