Emergence
See also: Emergent, Spontaneous order, and
Self-organization
A termite "cathedral" mound produced by a
termite colony: a classic example of emer-
gence in nature.
In philosophy, systems theory and science,
emergence is the way complex systems and
patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relat-
ively simple interactions. Emergence is cent-
ral to the theories of integrative levels and of
complex systems.
Definitions
The concept has been in use since at least
the time of Aristotle.[1] John Stuart Mill[2]
and Julian Huxley[3] are just some of the his-
toric luminaries who have written on the
concept.
The term "emergent" was coined by the pi-
oneer psychologist G. H. Lewes, who wrote:
"Every resultant is either a sum or a
difference of the co-operant forces;
their sum, when their directions are
the same -- their difference, when
their directions are contrary. Fur-
ther, every resultant is clearly trace-
able
in its components, because
these are homogeneous and com-
mensurable. It
is otherwise with
emergents, when, instead of adding
measurable motion to measurable
motion, or things of one kind to oth-
er individuals of their kind, there is
a co-operation of things of unlike
kinds. The emergent is unlike its
components insofar as these are in-
commensurable, and it cannot be re-
duced to their sum or their differ-
ence."
(Lewes 1875, p. 412)(Blitz
1992)
Professor Jeffrey Goldstein in the School of
Business at Adelphi University provides a
current definition of emergence in the journ-
al, Emergence (Goldstein 1999). For Gold-
stein, emergence can be defined as: "the
arising of novel and coherent structures, pat-
terns and properties during the process of
self-organization in complex systems" (Corn-
ing 2002).
Goldstein’s definition can be further elab-
orated to describe the qualities of this defini-
tion in more detail:
"The common characteristics are:
(1) radical novelty (features not pre-
viously observed in systems); (2) co-
herence or correlation (meaning in-
tegrated wholes that maintain them-
selves over