Emergence

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Emergence Page 29

by Steven Johnson


  in communication, 151–52, 195–96

  as concept, 22, 162

  control and, 139, 141–42, 221

  emergence and, 120–21, 132, 137, 166–68

  in evolution, 62

  in homeostatic systems, 138, 140–41, 143

  information, 201–2, 231

  in learning, 52, 57

  loops of, 120, 121, 130–36, 141–42, 145–46, 258n

  management, 223–24

  in mass media, 130–36, 137, 143–46, 152

  meta-, 155–56

  mutual, 166–68

  negative, 137, 138–40, 220, 257n

  neuro-, 142–43

  pattern, 40–41

  positive, 16, 112, 137–38, 143, 152, 203, 247n–48n, 257n, 258n

  pricing and, 155–56, 260n

  urban, 91–97, 146–47, 230–31, 257n–58n

  user, 121–26, 129, 156–62, 214–15, 221–22

  fertilizers, 112

  feudalism, 34–35

  Fibonacci sequence, 236n

  field rotation, triennial, 112

  filters, quality, 161–62, 207, 214, 223

  Florence, Italy, 21, 101–2, 104–7, 109, 115, 116, 123, 124, 125, 148, 230

  florin, 101–2

  Flowers, Gennifer, 130–36, 137, 143, 144–45, 152, 159, 162

  Frampton, Peter, 44

  Frankfurt School, 39

  Freenet, 205

  freeways, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97

  free will, 97–98, 99, 187–89

  Frith, Uta, 196

  Froebel, Friedrich, 165–66

  Froebel’s gifts, 165–66

  frog embryos, 85

  Galapagos Islands, 12

  games, computer:

  algorithms in, 17, 88, 89, 175

  artificial intelligence in, 182–89, 208–10

  emergence in, 17, 21, 66, 87–89, 174–89, 208–9

  “god,” 87–89, 186–89, 209–10

  indirect control in, 174–89

  puzzle-based, 183–84

  representational, 158–59

  role-playing, 155, 157

  rules for, 180–81

  software for, 163–89

  see also specific games

  game theory, 89, 246n

  Gay Village, 41

  Gearheads, 178–80

  “gene expression,” 86

  gene pool, 46, 169, 170, 171, 172

  genetics:

  algorithms in, 57–59, 209

  in cell functions, 83–86, 88

  computer simulations of, 57–59, 182–86

  environment vs., 31, 56, 83–84, 172–73, 202

  mutations in, 58, 182–83

  traits determined by, 46, 48, 86, 169, 170, 171, 172, 196, 236n

  genome, 23, 84, 86

  genotypes, 58, 59

  “geohunters,” 182–86

  geometric progression, 85, 218, 245n

  geometry, Euclidean, 166

  gibbons, 202

  Gigantiops destructor, 75

  Gilliat, Bruce, 122

  Gleick, James, 65

  God and Golem, Inc. (Wiener), 125–26

  Gödel, Kurt, 42

  Gödel, Escher, Bach (Hofstadter), 45, 65

  Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 125

  “Goldberg Variations, The” (Bach), 65, 128

  goldsmiths, 101, 102, 104

  Google, 117

  Gordon, Deborah, 29–33, 40, 74, 76–82, 86, 91, 97–98, 99, 103–4, 120, 123, 164, 179, 245n, 261n

  Gore, Al, 67

  gorillas, 202

  gradient detection, 76, 98

  Grateful Dead, 148

  “great man” theory, 64

  Greece, ancient, 111, 147

  Growth and Form (Thompson), 236n

  Guernica (Picasso), 23

  guild system, 21, 101–2, 104–7, 124, 125, 148

  Gutenberg Galaxy, The (McLuhan), 158

  Hamilton, W. D., 238n

  Hardball, 135

  Harmonic Convergence, 113–14

  Harvard University, 53

  Haussmann, Georges-Eugène, 41, 240n

  Hayek, Friedrich von, 260n

  HBO, 219

  Hess, Moses, 36

  heterarchies, 98

  Heywood, Rik, 183, 184, 185

  hierarchies, 14–15, 18, 30–31, 33, 98, 132, 136, 145, 148–49, 153, 208, 223, 225, 263n–64n

  Hillis, Danny, 59, 170–74, 180, 209, 223, 231

  Hofstadter, Douglas, 45, 65

  Holland, John, 27, 57–59, 64–65

  Holldobler, Bert, 60, 75

  homeostasis, 138, 140–41, 143, 146–47, 148, 149, 151, 154, 159

  Homo habilis, 202

  Homo sapiens, 202, 204

  homosexuality, 41, 43–44

  housing projects, 49–50

  Howard, Ebenezer, 146, 147, 259n

  How the Mind Works (Pinker), 118

  Hudson Street (New York City), 50, 93

  hunter-gatherers, 252n–53n

  hypertext, 124, 152, 157, 210

  Iberall, Arthur, 110–11, 252n–53n

  IBM, 57

  IBM 701 calculator, 57

  Image, The (Boorstin), 134–35

  immune system, 65, 103, 128, 249n–50n, 261n

  Impressionism, 39

  inertia laws of, 106

  information:

  feedback on, 201–2, 231

  flow of, 9, 44–45, 46, 75–76, 94, 96, 108–9, 116–26, 129, 132, 151, 152, 232–33

  incomplete, 188, 200–201

  from mental states, 196–97

  meta-, 79

  networks of, 96–97, 116–26, 134–35, 204–5, 217–18

  processing of, 44–45, 53, 108, 116, 117, 118, 126–27, 233, 254n–55n

  retrieval of, 100, 103

  sharing of, 40–41, 107–8, 158, 229–34, 251n–52n

  storage of, 100, 103, 107, 108, 115, 251n

  tracking of, 121–26, 181, 205

  information theory, 44–45, 46

  insects, social, 22, 73, 74, 82–83, 121

  intelligence:

  artificial, see artificial intelligence

  collective, 9, 29, 33, 62–63, 73–82, 85, 97, 103–4, 108, 115, 120–21, 123, 224, 226, 237n–39n, 255n

  developmental levels of, 11–12, 18

  distributed, 220–24, 232–33

  emergent, 99–100, 113–14, 127–29

  evolution of, 73, 115–17

  global, 114–21, 181

  human, 45, 124, 127–29, 208

  macro-, 116–17

  social, 197–98, 202–3

  Interactive Telecommunications Program, 178

  Interface Culture (Johnson), 113–14

  interfaces, user, 108–9, 206, 211, 251n

  Internet:

  chaos vs. order on, 117–23

  convergence and, 216–19

  cultural impact of, 125–26

  databases for, 121–26

  decentralization of, 66, 118–21, 204–5, 217–18, 263n–64n

  emergent intelligence of, 113–14, 127–29

  as “global brain,” 114–21, 181

  as information network, 96–97, 116–26, 134–35, 204–5, 217–18

  online communities on, 17, 148–62, 204–5

  self-awareness of, 127–29

  as web, 17, 66, 226, 229

  inventions, 108–9

  Jacobs, Jane, 18, 38, 50–52, 64–65, 89, 91–97, 146–48, 156, 229, 230, 236n–37n, 242n, 247n–48n, 256n–58n

  Jefferson, David, 59–63, 65, 263n

  Jennings, Peter, 131

  Jodi.org, 175, 178

  John Muir Trail, 61–63

  Joy, Bill, 114

  Joyce, James, 39

  Kahle, Brewster, 121–23

  karma points, 155–56, 160

  Keller, Evelyn Fox, 12–17, 18, 42, 43

  Kelly, Kevin, 168–69

  kindergarten, 165–66

  Klein, Naomi, 225, 226

  Krugman, Paul, 89–91, 120, 159

 
“Krush Kringle” toy, 179–80, 182

  Kuhn, Thomas, 48

  Kurzweil, Ray, 114, 127, 262n

  language:

  body, 195

  common, 104

  development of, 104

  digital, 115

  encrypted, 44–45, 240n–41n, 255n–56n

  syntactical structure of, 44–45, 75–76

  see also communication

  Larry King, 135

  Latin language, 104

  learning:

  in artificial intelligence, 52–63, 123–24, 127–29, 173

  brain activity and, 133–34

  by cities, 101–13, 116, 128, 232–33

  by computers, 52–63, 170–74

  consciousness and, 102–4

  feedback in, 52, 57

  open-ended, 57–58, 208

  software for, 53–63, 65

  Lehrer, Jim, 136

  Leiser, David, 243n

  Leonardo da Vinci, 101

  Leslie, Alan, 196

  Lewinsky, Monica, 144

  libraries, 109, 122, 251n

  Library of Congress, 122

  life insurance, 46–47

  life span, 99

  Linux, 121, 153

  logic:

  dialectical, 66

  of emergence, 66–67

  as process, 126–27, 255n

  swarm, 74, 75, 78, 79, 87, 181, 225–26, 232–33

  Logic of Computers Group, 57

  Logo, 164, 260n

  Los Angeles, Calif., 91, 95, 97

  Luit (chimpanzee), 197

  lurkers, 150–51, 152

  McLuhan, Marshall, 158, 161

  MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, 131, 136

  Maeda, John, 174, 178

  Maes, Patti, 207

  magnetic fields, 140

  Malda, Rob, 152–62

  Mamucium settlement, 34

  management, corporate, 67, 223–24

  Manchester, England, 22, 33–43, 52, 67, 113

  “manor,” 34–35

  Marcus, Steven, 38

  Marx, Karl, 36

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 52, 53, 207

  “master planners,” 82

  Mathematical Theory of Communication, The (Shannon), 45–47

  mathematics:

  applied, 16

  bio-, 12, 13–14, 15, 42, 43

  Matrix, The, 114

  mazes, 11

  media, mass, 130–36, 137, 143–46, 152, 208–21

  meditation, 142–43

  medium, message vs., 161–62

  memory:

  cellular, 249n–50n

  collective, 250n

  institutional, 64

  molecular, 65

  spatial, 206–7

  textual, 206

  middens, ant, 32–33, 97

  Middle Ages, 101, 111–12, 113, 116, 249n

  middle class, 37, 41, 240n

  Milton, John, 53–54

  mind, human:

  decentralized, 22

  interconnectedness of, 9

  “reading” of, 195–226

  “society” of, 65

  see also consciousness

  Minsky, Marvin, 18, 53, 65, 167–68, 237n

  “mirror neurons,” 198–99

  Miyamoto, Shigeru, 176, 178

  moderators, online, 154–57, 160, 260n

  modular theory, 198–99, 202–3

  molecules, 46, 65, 85, 86, 236n

  Molyneux, Peter, 178

  monkeys, 197–99, 202, 262n

  Monopoly, 158–59, 181

  “more is different” principle, 78, 165

  Morgan, Lloyd, 242n

  morphogenesis, 14, 15, 42, 43, 49

  Moses, Robert, 38, 50

  Ms. Pac-Man, 177

  MTV, 176, 214

  Mumford, Lewis, 38, 107, 112, 146–47, 154, 242n

  Murray, Arnold, 43

  Museum of the Moving Image, 177

  music, 45, 53, 128–29, 214, 217, 258n

  mutations, genetic, 58, 182–83

  Myst, 183–84

  Nakagaki, Toshiyuki, 11

  Napier, Charles James, 35

  Napster, 214, 217

  NASDAQ, 117

  Nation, 225

  National Physical Laboratory, 42, 54

  natural selection, 56–63, 83, 169, 170–74, 184, 185–86, 193, 203, 204

  Nature of Economies, The (Jacobs), 156

  NBC, 136

  near-optimal solutions, 228

  Negroponte, Nicholas, 159

  neighborhoods, 18, 36–38, 41, 50–51, 87–91, 96, 99, 106, 115, 119, 123, 186, 203, 204, 205, 220, 229–30, 233, 246n

  Netscape browser, 124–25

  networks:

  algorithms for, 88, 89, 161

  information, 96–97, 116–26, 134–35, 204–5, 217–18

  neural, 18, 21, 78, 115, 118–19, 121, 127, 133–34, 142–44, 146, 198–99, 203–4, 205, 209, 223, 238n, 241n, 256n, 261n, 262n–63n

  television, 135–36, 159, 160

  see also Internet

  neurons, 18, 21, 78, 115, 118–19, 121, 127, 133–34, 142–44, 146, 198–99, 203–4, 205, 209, 223, 238n, 241n, 256n, 261n, 262n–63n

  neurotransmitters, 115

  New Age, 113–14

  New Economy, 224

  New Republic, 135

  newspapers, 159–60, 207

  New Urbanist movement, 147, 230

  New York City, 50, 93, 107, 113, 230

  New York City Planning Commission, 50

  New Yorker, 146

  New York Times, 125, 131, 257n–58n

  Nightline, 135

  Nintendo, 176

  Nixon, Richard M., 132

  nonequilibrium thermodynamics, 12, 43, 52

  noosphere, 115–16

  nucleic acids, 85

  olfactory skills, 76

  online communities, 17, 148–62, 204–5

  Open Shortest Path First routine, 229

  Open Source, 153

  orangutans, 202

  order:

  chaos vs., 38, 52, 65, 117–23, 154, 169, 179, 218–20, 226, 237n

  global vs. local, 39–40, 74–80, 82, 86, 90, 93, 108–9, 218–19, 224

  see also control

  Organic Art, 182

  “organic clocks,” 20

  organization:

  global, 224–26

  goal-directed, 118

  hierarchical, 15, 98, 132, 136, 145, 148–49, 153, 208, 223, 225, 263n–64n

  political, 67, 225–26

  self-, see self-organization

  size limitations of, 259n–60n

  social, 9, 27, 33–41, 92–94, 97–100, 109, 204, 252n–54n

  see also systems

  OSS code, 175

  Out of Control (Kelly), 168–69

  pacemaker cells, 14–15, 16, 17, 23, 40, 64, 67, 164

  PalmPilots, 54

  “Pandemonium: A Paradigm for Learning” (Selfridge), 54

  Pandemonium model, 53–57, 65, 169, 231

  Papert, Seymour, 65, 164, 166

  paradigm shift, 48–49, 64

  Paradise Lost (Milton), 53–54

  Pattern on the Stone, The (Hillis), 173

  patterns:

  of behavior, see behavior

  development of, 49, 184–85, 246n

  feedback on, 40–41

  of heredity, 46

  hub-and-spoke, 119

  letter, 54–57, 65

  mathematical, 42

  of movement, 18–20, 41, 168

  musical, 45

  recognition of, 18, 21, 22, 44–45, 52, 54–57, 65, 103–4, 123–24, 126–29, 199, 206, 220, 221, 226, 231, 233

  social, 18, 36–40, 41, 49–50, 52, 91, 95, 137, 185

  spatial, 20, 27, 48, 90–91, 159, 223

  speech, 44–45

  spontaneous, 180

  temporal, 20, 27, 48, 91, 104–5

  urban, 40–41, 90–91, 146, 147, 159, 223

  “Perceptrons” (Minsky and Papert), 65


  phase transitions, 111–12

  phenotypes, 58, 59

  pheromone, 52, 60–63, 64, 74, 75–76, 78, 79, 84–85, 98, 115, 167, 206, 226, 228–29, 243n–44n

  Phillips Interactive, 178

  physics, 21, 105

  Picasso, Pablo, 23

  Pinker, Steven, 118

  planets, rotation of, 46

  “platform agonistic,” 139–40

  Pleistocene era, 202, 262n

  plow, wheeled, 112

  politics, 39–40, 67, 94–95, 161, 224–26, 264n

  population growth, 34, 99, 110–11, 112, 116, 164–65, 252n–53n

  pornography, 208

  post-structuralism, 65

  power law, 119

  Powers of Ten, 231–32

  predictions, 9, 47

  Prelude, The (Wordsworth), 39

  pricing, 155–56

  Prigogine, Ilya, 43, 52, 64–65

  prioritization, 78

  probability theory, 46–47

  problem-solving, 74, 79–80, 120, 126–27, 227–29, 251n–52n

  product placement, 214

  programs, computer:

  artificial-life, 59–63, 65

  branching paths in, 58

  codes in, 169, 170–71, 173–74, 175, 180, 205–6

  evolution of, 57–59, 60, 205–6

  mini-, 170–74

  number-sorting, 170–74, 209, 231

  predator, 172–73

  see also software

  proteins, 85

  Proverbs, Book of, 71

  “pseudo events,” 145

  purchase circles, 221–22

  Quake, 182, 183, 208–9

  quality management, 67

  racial diversity, 89, 95, 247n

  randomness, 19, 62, 77, 78–79, 87, 121, 163, 171, 220, 222–23, 244n, 247n

  recognition systems, 103

  redwood forests, 258n

  reentry, neural, 256

  reflexes, 38–39

  Reliable Sources, 135

  Renaissance, 101–2, 147

  Replay, 211

  “Residence in London” (Wordsworth), 27

  Resnick, Mitch, 16–17, 23, 64, 76, 163–69, 180, 189, 260n

  Restak, Richard, 133–34

  retina, 201

  Rheingold, Howard, 148

  Ridley, Matt, 82, 86

  Rizzollati, Giaccamo, 198–99

  Rockefeller Foundation, 46, 50

  Roman Empire, 33, 109–10

  Rosenstiel, Tom, 135

  rules, 19, 180–81, 226

  St. Peter’s Basilica, 105

  Santa Fe Institute, 21, 39, 65, 237n

  Schelling, Thomas, 89, 246n

  search engines, 117, 121

  Seattle protests (1999), 225, 226

  Segel, Lee, 12–17, 18, 42, 43

  self-awareness, 127–29, 199–204, 262n

  Selfish Gene, The (Dawkins), 59–60

  self-organization:

  adaptation by, 18, 19–20, 119, 128, 137, 139–40

  bottom-up process in, 17, 18, 22, 53–57, 66–67, 83, 97–98, 115, 116, 133, 148, 164, 166, 207, 221–23, 231

  of cities, 87–100, 104–7, 109–13, 232–33

  clusters in, 210–15, 219–20, 221, 226; see also aggregation

  computer simulations of, 59–63, 76, 163–69

 

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