Emergent Entity
From CasGroup
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
: "Emergent properties are collective properties, which means they are properties of collections, not properties of individual parts. The cause can often be traced back to the interactions between the parts of which a system is made." ~ Raima Larter | : "Emergent properties are collective properties, which means they are properties of collections, not properties of individual parts. The cause can often be traced back to the interactions between the parts of which a system is made." ~ Raima Larter | ||
| - | By this criterion, [http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2012/01/emergence.html most properties are emergent], Daniel Little | + | By this criterion, [http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2012/01/emergence.html most properties are emergent], as Daniel Little argues: "the sweetness of sugar, the flammability of woven cotton, the hardness of bronze". One could add the liquidity of water, the elasticity of rubber, or the rigidity of iron. |
Emergent entities are not reducible. Although they arise out of more fundamental items, they are 'novel' or 'irreducible' with respect to them. Emergent properties are dependent on underlying processes, and yet independent from underlying processes. This is the paradox of emergence. | Emergent entities are not reducible. Although they arise out of more fundamental items, they are 'novel' or 'irreducible' with respect to them. Emergent properties are dependent on underlying processes, and yet independent from underlying processes. This is the paradox of emergence. | ||
