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Emergence
Emergence
Emergence is the process of deriving some
new and coherent structures, patterns and properties in a
complex system. Emergent phenomena occur due to the pattern of interactions
between the elements of a system over time. Emergent phenomena are often
unexpected, nontrivial results of relatively simple interactions of relatively
simple components. What distinguishes a
complex system from a merely complicated one is that some behaviours and
patterns emerge in complex systems as a result of the patterns of relationship
between the elements.
An emergent behaviour is shown when a number
of simple
entities (agents) operate in an environment, forming more complex behaviours
as a collective. The complex behaviour is not a property of any single such
entity, nor can it easily be predicted or deduced from behaviour in the
lower-level entities. The shape and behaviour of a flock of birds or school of
fish are readily understandable examples, and it is typical that the mechanisms
governing the flock or school are harder to grasp than the behaviour of
individual birds or fish.
Emergent processes or behaviours can be seen in a lot of
places, from any
multicellular biological organism to traffic patterns or organizational
phenomena to
computer simulations. The
stock market is an example of emergence on a grand scale. As a whole it
precisely regulates the relative prices of companies across the world, yet it
has no leader; there is no one entity which controls the workings of the entire
market. Each agent, or investor, has knowledge of only a limited number of
companies within their portfolio, and must follow the regulatory rules of the
market. Through the interactions of individual investors the complexity of the
stock market as a whole emerges.
The study of emergent behaviours is not generally considered
a
homogeneous field, but divided across its application or problem
domains.
Not to be confused with
emergency.
-
Stephen Johnson, Emergence (2002)
-
Stephen Wolfram,
A New Kind of Science (2002),
ISBN 1579550088.
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