Emergence

By: Aiden Kim-

Ever wonder how something as simple as a water molecule can make something wet? What about how static transistors run an AI or how our pretty stupid neurons make a smart brain? All these properties are a product of something called emergence.

Emergence is a property of nature that stipulates that many things added together form a larger whole that is more complex than the original sub components. For something to be emergent, it must be a new property that comes into being due to the interactions of several smaller components, not because of a smaller property of the smaller components themselves. Everything from the “wetness” of water to the very complex biological mechanisms that keep us alive every day are formed from this very principle, though two main branches of emergence exist along a dynamic scale.

Simple emergence, like the property of water’s “wetness” occur when the simple additive properties between water molecules (such as the cohesive forces of the intermolecular hydrogen bondings) compound together through many billions (upon moles, moles, and moles) of water molecules interacting with each other through their individual properties compounded together.

Complex emergence, however, is more intricate than simple emergence. Unlike simple emergence, complex emergence is brought about by more precise physiological compositions, made deliberate by the functional structures formed by smaller components. Like simple emergence new properties emerge that would have never otherwise existed from the individual parts, but by comparison complex emergence is very deliberate with its design and/or structure. The individual neurons in the brain only function as the interconnections between neurons remain integrated together. The individual amino acids in a larger protein only function as a protein so long as the structure of the amino acid does not become denatured.

Emergence is a highly intriguing property of nature that exists from the very water we drink to the minds and bodies that let us think and see the world around us. It creates the world we live and perceive in, all from billions upon billions of tiny things we take for granted.