Emergence
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An emergent behavior is not imposed from the outside by a central controller or organizer, it results solely from the interactions between the agents. Emergence is a characteristic feature of many [[Complex System|complex]] and [[Self-Organization|self-organizing]] systems. A [http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/4/reviews/squazzoni.html JASSS review] of an emergence book says that "90% of papers on complexity and social simulation explicitly refer to emergence, i.e. emergent processes, properties, dynamics, and patterns". Emergence and self-organization seem to be a contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics, which says that organization and order can not increase in isolated systems. They are possible because they usually happen in open systems, which extract information and order out of the environment and produce waste (import of order/information and export of disorder/entropy). The process of self-organization refers to the boundary between system and environment, the process of emergence involves the microscopic-macroscopic boundary between the individual and the collective group. | An emergent behavior is not imposed from the outside by a central controller or organizer, it results solely from the interactions between the agents. Emergence is a characteristic feature of many [[Complex System|complex]] and [[Self-Organization|self-organizing]] systems. A [http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/4/reviews/squazzoni.html JASSS review] of an emergence book says that "90% of papers on complexity and social simulation explicitly refer to emergence, i.e. emergent processes, properties, dynamics, and patterns". Emergence and self-organization seem to be a contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics, which says that organization and order can not increase in isolated systems. They are possible because they usually happen in open systems, which extract information and order out of the environment and produce waste (import of order/information and export of disorder/entropy). The process of self-organization refers to the boundary between system and environment, the process of emergence involves the microscopic-macroscopic boundary between the individual and the collective group. | ||
| - | Already Aristotle knew emergence: | + | Already Aristotle knew emergence: he said the whole is sometimes more than the sum of its parts (He considered the question of unity for aggregated things "which have several parts and in which the totality is not, as it were, a mere heap, but the whole is something besides the parts", Aristotle Metaphysics Book VIII, Chapter 6). And Hamlet said, "There is more in heaven and earth, Horatio, than is dreamed of in your philosophy." Perhaps this is not what Shakespeare had in mind, but in complexity theory, the whole is typically more than the parts. For example if we take a team or group, and remove all the members, we are left with the common intentions and beliefs (for example the common vision or the shared goal), which are abstract and immaterial, but have a profound effect. '''Do we get the essence of "emergence" if we take the whole minus the parts?''' |
| - | he said the whole is sometimes more | + | |
| - | than the sum of its parts (He considered the question | + | |
| - | of unity for aggregated things "which have | + | |
| - | several parts and in which the | + | |
| - | totality is not, as it were, a mere | + | |
| - | heap, but the whole is something | + | |
| - | besides the parts", Aristotle Metaphysics Book VIII, Chapter 6) | + | |
| - | And Hamlet said, "There is more in heaven and earth, Horatio, | + | |
| - | than is dreamed of in your philosophy." Perhaps this is | + | |
| - | not what Shakespeare had in mind, but in complexity theory, | + | |
| - | the whole is typically more than the parts. For example if we take a team or | + | |
| - | group, and remove all the members, we are left with the common intentions | + | |
| - | and beliefs (for example the common vision or the shared goal), which are | + | |
| - | abstract and immaterial, but have a profound effect. | + | |
| - | '''Do we get the essence of "emergence" if we | + | |
| - | take the whole minus the parts?''' | + | |
== Types and Forms == | == Types and Forms == | ||
