What are phenomena that aren’t “emergent”? I guess Eliezer is right when he says “a single quark”. I think Eliezer makes a good case that the word is overused, and doesn’t enlighten the discourse.
It might be more useful to describe things in reverse ” X are the components of phenomenon Y”. Such as “Neurons firing are the known components of intelligence”. Because when we observe something, it can be useful to ask “what are its components”?
It contrast, everything observed IS the component of some bigger system, but it can be also useful to ask, what is the next biggest ordered system it is a part of, etc. That’s where “emergent phenomena” might legitmately come in. Because an ant colony might be the next biggest ordered system that an individual ant is a part of, and that does seem like useful information.
What are phenomena that aren’t “emergent”? I guess Eliezer is right when he says “a single quark”. I think Eliezer makes a good case that the word is overused, and doesn’t enlighten the discourse.
It might be more useful to describe things in reverse ” X are the components of phenomenon Y”. Such as “Neurons firing are the known components of intelligence”. Because when we observe something, it can be useful to ask “what are its components”?
It contrast, everything observed IS the component of some bigger system, but it can be also useful to ask, what is the next biggest ordered system it is a part of, etc. That’s where “emergent phenomena” might legitmately come in. Because an ant colony might be the next biggest ordered system that an individual ant is a part of, and that does seem like useful information.