[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Emergent Phenomena in Social Sciences -- An Elementary Primer
Robert Primak
bobprimak at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 9 08:06:25 PDT 2024
I was asked to post an explainer for the concept of an "emergent phenomenon" as used in experimental psychology research. My understanding is only a little post-secondary, but here is what I can derive from what I think I was hearing today:
Emergence in Social Groups and in BrainsWhy is the whole sometimes LESS than the sum of its parts?(2013)https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201310/emergence-in-social-groups-and-in-brains
"Emergence takes place when the whole is more than the sum of its parts. More carefully: A property is emergent when it belongs to a whole but not to its parts, and is not just an aggregate of the properties of the parts because it results from the interactions of the parts."
(One of the questions in the video's discussion was about the deprecation of the functions of individual neurons as their connections into brain functions increase in complexity, at least in birds. This is popularized as the "pruning of connections" as brains mature. The reality of brain maturation is more dynamic and more complex.)
A macro-scale type of "Cadence Problem" in Brain Science:(This is not the Cadence Problem with neural arrays, which Dr. Hopfield is investigating.)
"According to a new study the quick, athletic learners among us really are built differently – inside their brains: quick learners took about a minute to adjust and develop a comfortable walking cadence on the treadmill, the slower group took four times as long"
https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1edeaxq/according_to_a_new_study_the_quick_athletic/?rdt=40756
This appears to be a concrete example of an emergent property in human behavior and brain function.
Disclaimer: I do not have anywhere near the level of education or experience which the target audience of this video may be assumed to possess.
-- Bob Primak
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