Re: Emergence and explanation

Posted by Russell Standish on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Emergence-and-explanation-tp3187993p3245321.html

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 08:43:27AM -0700, glen e. p. ropella wrote:
>
> True, mass is _linear_ as is volume and many other characteristics
> (because of the way they're measured).  But if nonlinear == emergent,
> then what's the point of the less well-defined term "emergent"?
>
> --
> glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095, http://agent-based-modeling.com
>

Nonlinearity is necessary for stronger forms of emergence than mere
resultant emergence. However, not all nonlinear properties are
emergent properties. Example, the force term in a harmonic oscillator
is definitely nonlinear, but it is part of syntactic structure of the
system, so is definitely not emergent.

BTW - where is Jochen Fromm in this debate?
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Mathematics                        
UNSW SYDNEY 2052                 [hidden email]
Australia                                http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org