ABSTRACT

All complex adaptive systems display emergent behavior. ‘In these systems, agents residing on one scale start producing behavior that lies on the scale above them … The movement from low-level rules to higher-level sophistication is what we call emergence.’ 1 The simplest form of emergent behavior would be ‘a system with multiple agents dynamically interacting in multiple ways, following local rules and oblivious to any higher order instructions. But it wouldn’t be truly emergent until those local interactions resulted in some kind of discernible macrobehavior [or pattern].’ 2 And it is behavior. Emergence in this context is purposeful. Behavior becomes manifest at the level of the system, to increase efficiency and options. Without purposeful adaptation, increasing complexity is merely interesting.