Emergence marks the appearance of new properties in systems from "summary" of Complexity by Mitchell M. Waldrop
Emergence is a concept that is central to understanding complex systems. It is the phenomenon whereby new properties or behaviors arise in a system that are not present in its individual components. These emergent properties are often unpredictable and cannot be reduced to the properties of the system's parts. Instead, they arise from the interactions and relationships between those parts. One of the key features of emergence is its simplicity. While the individual components of a system may be simple, the emergent properties that arise from their interactions can be complex and unexpected. This is because emergent properties are the result of non-linear interactions, where small changes in one part of the system can have large effects on the system as a whole. Emergence is also marked by clarity, in that the new properties that emerge are often clearly defined and distinct from the properties of the system's parts. For example, in a flock of birds, the emergent property of flocking behavior is clearly different from the behavior of any individual bird. This clarity allows us to study and understand emergent properties as separate entities within a system. Another important aspect of emergence is its coherence. Emergent properties are not random or chaotic; instead, they are the result of the interactions and relationships between the parts of a system. This coherence gives emergent properties ...
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