Journal on Policy and Complex Systems - Fall 2015 , Volume 2 , Number 2
The End of ( Traditional ) Emergence : Introducing Reactive Emergence
Russ Abbott
Department of Computer Science , California State University , Los Angeles , CA 90032 , USA
RAbbott @ calstatela . edu
Abstract Emergence is not a mystery ; it is the realization of properties that do not derive ( directly ) from the properties of the realization ’ s constituents . A concrete canoe floats in water , a property that derives primarily from how its components are arranged , not primarily from the components themselves . Since emergence typically involves an entity whose components are organized in specific ways , the means that hold the components together and allow for that organization become fundamental . Negative interaction energy ( from fundamental physics ) holds static structures together . Emergent phenomena built with negative interactive energy have less mass than their components considered separately . I call the creation and persistence of such structures general evolution . When added to negative interaction energy , self-management ( i . e ., autopoietic ) activities ( as in biological organisms ) hold dynamic structures together . Emergent phenomena built with self-management activities have more mass than their components considered separately . I analogize type creation in programming languages to these mechanisms .
Since the preceding clarifies most ( traditional ) emergence issues , labeling phenomena emergent adds little additional value . Given its baggage and minimal utility , we might be better off abandoning the term . Then what is reactive emergence ? Public policies famously have unintended consequences . I explain why such phenomena — and in fact why reactions to many policy-based changes to our living and working environment — should be considered a form of emergence .
Keywords : emergence , energy accumulation and release , implementation , interaction energy , reactive emergence , realization , specification , type creation , unintended consequences
91 doi : 10.18278 / jpcs . 2.2.6