emergence

emergence
what is emergence? how do different learning theories explain it?

emergence as the opposite of reduction: 'holistic' criticism: by reducing complex entity to its parts you lose something - Humpty Dumpty cannot be put back together emergence: when parts are combined surprising new properties emerge

hydrogen + oxygen --> water water has completely different properties to either hydrogen or oxygen
 * examples**

dominos falling create an emergent wave effect TV image made up of pixels, we see the image not the individual pixels

mind emerges from the brain intelligence emerges from non intelligent parts

blogosphere emerges from RSS feeds (machine readable and searchable), comments, blogrolls, tags

flocks of ducks or birds ant colony behaviour development of human fetus

Conways [|Game of Life]

UNFINISHED

reference:
The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Edited by Richard Gregory [|An Introduction to Connective Knowledge] Stephen Downes [|Emergent Democracy] Joi Ito (this is the paper that persuaded me that blogs were important and eventually led to me blogging) Society of Mind Marvin Minsky [|Turtles Termites and Traffic Jams] Mitch Resnik [|Exploring Emergence] Mitch Resnick and Brian Silverman (Conways //Game of Life// simulation and explanation)