[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Emergent Phenomena in Social Sciences -- An Elementary Primer

Ted Kochanski tedpkphd at gmail.com
Wed Oct 9 09:41:36 PDT 2024 

All,

 While Wikipedia can be criticized for many things it often provides a nice
[if over simplified] summary of a complex field -- the reader is of course
encouraged to pursue the typically large number of references for more

Here's a couple of quotes from the Wikipedia on Emergence

In philosophy <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy>, systems theory
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theory>, science
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science>, and art
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art>, *emergence* occurs when a complex
entity has properties or behaviors that its parts do not have on their own,
and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole.

Emergence plays a central role in theories of integrative levels
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrative_level> and of complex systems
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_system>. For instance, the
phenomenon of life <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life> as studied in
biology <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology> is an emergent property of
chemistry <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry> and physics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics>...
Definitions[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emergence&action=edit&section=2>
]

This concept of emergence dates from at least the time of Aristotle
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle>.[3]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-Meta-3> The many
scientists and philosophers[4]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-4> who have written on
the concept include John Stuart Mill
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill> (*Composition of Causes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_Causes>*, 1843)[5]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-5> and Julian Huxley
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Huxley>[6]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-6> (1887–1975).

The philosopher G. H. Lewes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Henry_Lewes> coined the term
"emergent" in 1875, distinguishing it from the merely "resultant":

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. Further, every resultant is clearly
traceable in its components, because these are homogeneous
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneous> and commensurable
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commensurability_(philosophy_of_science)>.
It is otherwise with emergents, when, instead of adding measurable motion
to measurable motion, or things of one kind to other individuals of their
kind, there is a co-operation of things of unlike kinds. The emergent is
unlike its components insofar as these are incommensurable, and it cannot
be reduced to their sum or their difference...[7]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-7>[8]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBlitz1992-8>

Strong and weak emergence[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emergence&action=edit&section=3>
]
Further information: Emergent materialism
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergent_materialism> and Reductive
materialism <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductive_materialism>

Usage of the notion "emergence" may generally be subdivided into two
perspectives, that of "weak emergence" and "strong emergence". One paper
discussing this division is *Weak Emergence*, by philosopher Mark Bedau
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bedau>. In terms of physical systems,
weak emergence is a type of emergence in which the emergent property is
amenable to computer simulation or similar forms of after-the-fact analysis
(for example, the formation of a traffic jam, the structure of a flock of
starlings in flight or a school of fish, or the formation of galaxies).
Crucial in these simulations is that the interacting members retain their
independence. If not, a new entity is formed with new, emergent properties:
this is called strong emergence, which it is argued cannot be simulated,
analysed or reduced...[*citation needed
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>*]
Objective or subjective quality[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emergence&action=edit&section=5>
]

Crutchfield regards the properties of complexity and organization of any
system as subjective <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjectivity> qualities
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_(philosophy)> determined by the
observer.

Defining structure and detecting the emergence of complexity in nature are
inherently subjective, though essential, scientific activities. Despite the
difficulties, these problems can be analysed in terms of how model-building
observers infer from measurements the computational capabilities embedded
in non-linear processes. An observer's notion of what is ordered, what is
random, and what is complex in its environment depends directly on its
computational resources: the amount of raw measurement data, of memory, and
of time available for estimation and inference. The discovery of structure
in an environment depends more critically and subtly, though, on how those
resources are organized. The descriptive power of the observer's chosen (or
implicit) computational model class, for example, can be an overwhelming
determinant in finding regularity in data.[14]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-14>

The low entropy <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy> of an ordered
system can be viewed as an example of subjective emergence: the observer
sees an ordered system by ignoring the underlying microstructure (i.e.
movement of molecules or elementary particles) and concludes that the
system has a low entropy.[15]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-15> On the other hand,
chaotic, unpredictable behaviour can also be seen as subjective emergent,
while at a microscopic scale the movement of the constituent parts can be
fully deterministic.
In science[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emergence&action=edit&section=6>
]

In physics <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics>, emergence is used to
describe a property, law, or phenomenon which occurs at macroscopic scales
(in space or time) but not at microscopic scales, despite the fact that a
macroscopic system can be viewed as a very large ensemble of microscopic
systems.[16] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-16>[17]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-17>

An emergent behavior of a physical system is a qualitative property that
can only occur in the limit that the number of microscopic constituents
tends to infinity.[18]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-18>

According to Robert Laughlin <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Laughlin>
,[11]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-FOOTNOTELaughlin2005-11> for
many-particle systems, nothing can be calculated exactly from the
microscopic equations, and macroscopic systems are characterised by broken
symmetry: the symmetry present in the microscopic equations is not present
in the macroscopic system, due to phase transitions. As a result, these
macroscopic systems are described in their own terminology, and have
properties that do not depend on many microscopic details...

Theoretical physicist PW Anderson states it this way:

The ability to reduce everything to simple fundamental laws does not imply
the ability to start from those laws and reconstruct the universe. The
constructionist hypothesis breaks down when confronted with the twin
difficulties of scale and complexity. At each level of complexity entirely
new properties appear. Psychology is not applied biology, nor is biology
applied chemistry. We can now see that the whole becomes not merely more,
but very different from the sum of its parts.[20]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAnderson1972-20>

Meanwhile, others have worked towards developing analytical evidence of
strong emergence. Renormalization
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renormalization_group> methods in
theoretical physics enable physicists to study critical phenomena that are
not tractable as the combination of their parts.[21]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-21> In 2009, Gu *et
al.* presented
a class of infinite physical systems that exhibits non-computable
macroscopic properties.[22]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-morereally-22>[23]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-binder-23> More
precisely, if one could compute certain macroscopic properties of these
systems from the microscopic description of these systems, then one would
be able to solve computational problems known to be undecidable in computer
science. These results concern infinite systems, finite systems being
considered computable. However, macroscopic concepts which only apply in
the limit of infinite systems, such as phase transitions
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_transition> and the renormalization
group <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renormalization_group>, are important
for understanding and modeling real, finite physical systems. Gu *et
al.* concluded
that

Although macroscopic concepts are essential for understanding our world,
much of fundamental physics has been devoted to the search for a 'theory of
everything', a set of equations that perfectly describe the behavior of all
fundamental particles. The view that this is the goal of science rests in
part on the rationale that such a theory would allow us to derive the
behavior of all macroscopic concepts, at least in principle. The evidence
we have presented suggests that this view may be overly optimistic. A
'theory of everything' is one of many components necessary for complete
understanding of the universe, but is not necessarily the only one. The
development of macroscopic laws from first principles may involve more than
just systematic logic, and could require conjectures suggested by
experiments, simulations or insight.[22]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_note-morereally-22>

[image: image.png]
The formation of complex symmetrical and fractal
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal> patterns
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature> in snowflakes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake> exemplifies emergence in a
physical system.



Ted

References[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emergence&action=edit&section=11>
]

   1. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-Wong_1-0>* O'Connor,
   Timothy; Wong, Hong Yu (February 28, 2012). "Emergent Properties"
   <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/properties-emergent/>.
   In Edward N. Zalta (ed.). *The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
   (Spring 2012 Edition)*.
   2. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-2>* Hartmann,
   Nicolai (2013). *Possibility and actuality*
   <https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110246681>. Translated by Adair, Stephanie
   and Scott, Alex. Walter De Gruyter. p. 223. doi
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)>:10.1515/9783110246681
   <https://doi.org/10.1515%2F9783110246681>. ISBN
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)> 9783110246681
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783110246681>. The
   higher nexus is, in many of its structural elements, dependent on the
   lower, but is autonomous in its particular nature (its categorial *novum*).
   The chain of conditions of a real thing in the higher stratum contains an
   ample number of components from the lower strata; but they are only partial
   aspects of it, and therefore do not make its real possibility complete;
   they make it, in fact, neither necessary nor actual. The chain becomes
   complete only through the addition of real components of its own stratum.
   But these are under a categorially different kind of determination.
   Structurally, they belong to the higher real nexus itself, and are not
   found outside of it.
   3. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-Meta_3-0>*
   Aristotle, *Metaphysics (Aristotle)
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics_(Aristotle)>*, Book VIII
   (Eta) 1045a 8–10: "... the totality is not, as it were, a mere heap, but
   the whole is something besides the parts ...", i.e., the whole is other
   than the sum of the parts.
   4. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-4>* Winning,
   Jason; Bechtel, William <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bechtel>
    (2019). "Being emergence vs. pattern emergence: complexity, control,
   and goal-directedness in biological systems"
   <https://philpapers.org/rec/WINBEV>. In Gibb, Sophie; Hendry, Robin
   Findlay; Lancaster, Tom (eds.). *The Routledge Handbook of Emergence*
   <https://books.google.com/books?id=0Tz3DwAAQBAJ>. Routledge Handbooks in
   Philosophy. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 134. ISBN
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)> 9781317381501
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781317381501>.
   Retrieved 25 October 2020. Emergence is much discussed by both
   philosophers and scientists.
   5. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-5>* "The
   chemical combination of two substances produces, as is well known, a third
   substance with properties entirely different from those of either of the
   two substances separately, or of both of them taken together."
   6. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-6>* Julian
   Huxley: "now and again there is a sudden rapid passage to a totally new and
   more comprehensive type of order or organization, with quite new emergent
   properties, and involving quite new methods of further evolution" (Huxley
   & Huxley 1947
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFHuxleyHuxley1947>,
   p. 120)
   7. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-7>* Lewes,
   George Henry <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Henry_Lewes>
(1875). *Problems
   of Life and Mind* <https://books.google.com/books?id=0J8RAAAAYAAJ>.
   First Series: The Foundations of a Creed. Vol. 2. Boston: Osgood. p. 369.
   Retrieved 24 Mar 2019.
   8. *^
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBlitz1992_8-0>*
    Blitz 1992 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFBlitz1992>.
   9. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-9>* Chalmers,
   David J. (2002). "Strong and Weak Emergence" [1]
   <http://consc.net/papers/emergence.pdf> Republished in P. Clayton and P.
   Davies, eds. (2006) *The Re-Emergence of Emergence*. Oxford: Oxford
   University Press
   10. ^ Jump up to:*a*
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBedau1997_10-0>
    *b*
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBedau1997_10-1>
    *c*
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBedau1997_10-2>
    *d*
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBedau1997_10-3>
    Bedau 1997 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFBedau1997>.
   11. ^ Jump up to:*a*
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELaughlin2005_11-0>
    *b*
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELaughlin2005_11-1>
    Laughlin 2005
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFLaughlin2005>.
   12. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-12>* Luisi,
   Pier L. (2006). *The Emergence of Life: From Chemical Origins to
   Synthetic Biology*
   <http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/chemistry/organic-chemistry/emergence-life-chemical-origins-synthetic-biology>.
   Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)> 978-0521821179
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0521821179>.
   Archived
   <https://web.archive.org/web/20151117023700/http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/chemistry/organic-chemistry/emergence-life-chemical-origins-synthetic-biology>
from
   the original on 2015-11-17.
   13. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-13>* Kim,
   Jaegwon (2006). "Emergence: Core ideas and issues". *Synthese*. *151* (3):
   547–59. doi <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)>:
   10.1007/s11229-006-9025-0 <https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11229-006-9025-0>.
   S2CID <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)> 875121
   <https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:875121>.
   14. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-14>* Crutchfield,
   James P. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Crutchfield> (1993). "The
   Calculi of Emergence: Computation, Dynamics, and Induction"
   <http://csc.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/CalcEmergTitlePage.htm>.
   *Physica*. *75* (1–3). Utrecht (published 1994): 11–54. Bibcode
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)>:1994PhyD...75...11C
   <https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994PhyD...75...11C>. doi
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)>:
   10.1016/0167-2789(94)90273-9
   <https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0167-2789%2894%2990273-9>. Retrieved 24 Mar
    2019.
   15. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-15>* See f.i.
   Carlo Rovelli: The mystery of time, 2017, part 10: Perspective, p.105-110
   16. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-16>* Anderson,
   Philip W. (2018-03-09). *Basic Notions Of Condensed Matter Physics*
   <https://books.google.com/books?id=9HhQDwAAQBAJ>. CRC Press. ISBN
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)> 978-0-429-97374-1
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-429-97374-1>.
   17. *^ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#cite_ref-17>* Girvin,
   Steven M.; Yang, Kun (2019-02-28). *Modern Condensed Matter Physics*
   <https://books.google.com/books?id=2ESIDwAAQBAJ>. Cambridge University
   Press. ISBN <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)>
   978-1-108-57347-4
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-108-57347-4>.
   18. Kivelson, Sophia; Kivelson, Steve (2016). "Defining Emergence in
   Physics" <https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnpjquantmats.2016.24>. *npj Quantum
   Materials*. *1*. Nature Research. doi
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)>:
   10.1038/npjquantmats.2016.24
   <https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnpjquantmats.2016.24>
   19. Koestler 1969
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFKoestler1969>.
   20. Anderson 1972
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFAnderson1972>.
   21. Longo, Giuseppe; Montévil, Maël; Pocheville, Arnaud (2012-01-01). "From
   bottom-up approaches to levels of organization and extended critical
   transitions"
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429021>. *Frontiers
   in Physiology*. *3*: 232. doi
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)>:10.3389/fphys.2012.00232
   <https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffphys.2012.00232>. PMC
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMC_(identifier)> 3429021
   <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429021>. PMID
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   22. Gu, Mile; et al. (2009). "More really is different". *Physica D:
   Nonlinear Phenomena*. *238* (9):835 arXiv
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   <https://arxiv.org/abs/0809.0151>. Bibcode
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   <https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009PhyD..238..835G>. doi
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On Wed, Oct 9, 2024 at 11:06 AM Robert Primak via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us>
wrote:

> 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 Brains
> Why 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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