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Emergence: Difference between revisions
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{{a|devil|}}{{d|Emergence|/ɪˈməːdʒ(ə)ns/|n|}} | {{a|devil|}}{{d|Emergence|/ɪˈməːdʒ(ə)ns/|n|}} | ||
A property of a system or aggregated whole which is not shared by components of the system or the constituents of that body. For example, “wetness” is a property of water, but not of any individual molecule of H<sub>2</sub>0. “Consciousness” is an emergent property of neural activity, but the neurons firing across your cortex are not themselves conscious. “[[Bureaucracy]]” is an emergent property of a [[financial services]] organisation, though it may not be present, or ant any rate, obvious, in any of the individual communications within that organisation. Well, not many, anyway. | A property of a system or aggregated whole which is not shared by components of the system or the constituents of that body. For example, “wetness” is a property of water, but not of any individual molecule of H<sub>2</sub>0. “Consciousness” is an emergent property of neural activity, but the neurons firing across your cortex are not themselves conscious. “[[Bureaucracy]]” is an emergent property of a [[financial services]] organisation, though it may not be present, or ant any rate, obvious, in any of the individual communications within that organisation. Well, not many, anyway. Nonetheless in each case the emergent property is a function not of the system as a whole but of its individual components. | ||
To alter an emergent property you need to change the nature of those individual interactions so that a different property emerges. However tempting it may seem to an administrator, you cannot change the wider system, except by changing each of the individual interactions from which the property emerges. You can’t stop water being wet, unless you change the conditions in which water molecules interact (by making it colder, or hotter, or mixing other molecules with H<sub>2</sub>0. Likewise, you can’t remove bureaucracy from an organisation while keeping the organisational hierarchy which incentivises people to be bureaucratic. Each individual actions may be explicable — if a bit conservative — viewed in isolation. You can’t see the bureaucracy in it, and the individual may feel she has no alternative, given the hierarchical structures, than to act that way. | |||
Emergence is important component in [[complex system]]s, which, as you may know, the [[JC]] has a bit of a thing about. For instance, the phenomenon of life as studied in biology is an emergent property of chemistry, and psychological phenomena emerge from the neurobiological phenomena of living things. | Emergence is important component in [[complex system]]s, which, as you may know, the [[JC]] has a bit of a thing about. For instance, the phenomenon of life as studied in biology is an emergent property of chemistry, and psychological phenomena emerge from the neurobiological phenomena of living things. | ||