7 ms·

I think we have a different perspective on emergence, although what you say brings up something I enjoy thinking about. Software is made by humans on top of th

I think we have a different perspective on emergence, although what you say brings up something I enjoy thinking about. Software is made by humans on top of the circuits we designed. My perspective on emergent properties is to view it as a spontaneous process arising without intervention. I think its possible to view silicon computation and software as an emergent property if we consider humans to be part of the natural system out of which software emerges. Thinking about how we fit into natural systems and considering our role in the development of systems of material, energy, and information exchange. What we develop and build could be considered an emergent property of the universe when a planet has the right constituents, temperature, etc.

saltcured 5y ago
Yes. I don't consider causal intention to be part of the definition of emergence. Whether through spontaneous evolution or engineering, I think any complex system likely has emergent properties or phenomena. To me, emergence is broad and includes everything from the cascading order of an avalanche to flocking behavior of birds or the standing waves in the morning rush hour; the chill under a clear night sky to cooling effects of perspiration or the heat pump in my refrigerator. My take on emergence is that it is deeply mired in observation. A complex system does complex behavior. An observer recognizes patterns of behavior and forms an abstraction of identity to distinguish a certain pattern as a characteristic of the system. In some observer-less sense, the complex behaviors are certainly there. But, the semantic boundaries of what is a behavior, what identifies it as a persistent thing that can have emerged or not depending on the current state of the system... those are illusory concepts declared by the observer.

7 ms·

I think we have a different perspective on emergence, although what you say brings up something I enjoy thinking about. Software is made by humans on top of th

by netizen-936824 5y ago

saltcured 5y ago
Yes. I don't consider causal intention to be part of the definition of emergence. Whether through spontaneous evolution or engineering, I think any complex system likely has emergent properties or phenomena. To me, emergence is broad and includes everything from the cascading order of an avalanche to flocking behavior of birds or the standing waves in the morning rush hour; the chill under a clear night sky to cooling effects of perspiration or the heat pump in my refrigerator. My take on emergence is that it is deeply mired in observation. A complex system does complex behavior. An observer recognizes patterns of behavior and forms an abstraction of identity to distinguish a certain pattern as a characteristic of the system. In some observer-less sense, the complex behaviors are certainly there. But, the semantic boundaries of what is a behavior, what identifies it as a persistent thing that can have emerged or not depending on the current state of the system... those are illusory concepts declared by the observer.