Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software is a book written by media theorist Steven Berlin Johnson, published in 2001. Early review drafts had the subtitle "What the New Science Can Teach Us About Our Minds, Our Communities, and Ourselves" instead of the "Connected life..." [1]

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software
AuthorsSteven Berlin Johnson
LanguageEnglish
Genrenon-fiction
PublisherScribner
Publication date
2001
Pages288
ISBN9780684868752
OCLC46858386

Report

Emergence refers to the ability of low-level components of a system or community to self-organize into a higher-level system of sophistication and awareness. Johnson notes that this self reorganizing stems from the bottom up rather than directed by an external control factor. Johnson gives examples of feedback, self-organization and adaptive learning. He presents 5 fundamental principles to support his hypothesis:

  • More is different.
  • Ignorance is useful.
  • Encourage random encounters.
  • Look for patterns.
  • Pay attention to your neighbors.

Quote

"The whole is sometimes smarter than the sum of its parts."

Achievements
  • The New York Times - Notable book
  • Voice Literary Supplement – Top25 books of the year
  • Esquire Magazine – Best book of the year

References
  1. Johnson, Steven Berlin. (2001). Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities. Scribner. New York, NY. ISBN 0-684-86875-X OCLC 46858386


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