Path Dependence
Path dependence exists when the outcome of a process depends on its past history, and is certainly a property of many complex adaptive systems. It can be found in systems with strong positive feedback and is related to the butterfly effect, lever points and frozen accidents. In path dependent systems, the behavior in the current situation depends on the previous behaviors of the system during the history of existence, rather than simply on current conditions. Path dependence exists in a world of possibilities which depends on previous choices, if the kinds of doors we can go through depends on the kinds of doors we have opened before. Depending on the path of the system, the behavior, experience and outcomes may vary. Path-dependent behavior occurs in adaptive systems, if microscopic pertubations, minor fluctuations and small differences in local conditions are amplified and reinforced to macroscopic differences, especially in systems with positive feedback.
Econmic examples are the QWERTY layout in typewriters which is still used in computer keyboards, or file line endings for different operating systems (originally CRLF in Windows, and in LF in Linux and CR in Mac).
Phenomenal consciousness is path-dependent and varies from person to person, because each person has a different history, has met different people during the past, and is adapted to a slighty different world.
Path dependence is quite similar to Murray Gell-Mann's frozen accidents and John H. Holland's lever points, although both focus more on the beginning of the path than on the path itself.
