Sorry about my lack of clarity: By “complex” I mean “intricately ordered” rather than the simple disorder generally expected of an entropic process. To taboo both this and alignment as “following the same pattern as”:
I’d like to make the case that emergent complexity is where…
a whole system is more intricately orderedthan the sum of its parts
a system follows more closely the pattern of a macroscopic phenomenon than it follows the pattern of any of its component parts.
By a macroscopic phenomenon, I mean any (or all) of the following:
1. Another physical feature of the world which it fits to, like roads aligning with a map and its terrain (and obstacles).
2. Another instance of what appears to fulfil a similar purpose despite entirely different paths to get there or materials (like with convergence)
3. A conceptual feature of the world, like a purpose or function.
So, we can more readily understand an emergent phenomenon in relation to some other macroscopic phenomenon than we can were we to merely inspect the cells in isolation. In other words, there is usefulness identifying the 20+ varieties of eyes as “eyes” (2) even though they are not the same at all, on a cellular level. It is also meaningful to understand that they perform a function or purpose (3), and that they fit the physical world (by reflecting it relatively accurately) (1).
Sorry about my lack of clarity: By “complex” I mean “intricately ordered” rather than the simple disorder generally expected of an entropic process. To taboo both this and alignment as “following the same pattern as”:
By a macroscopic phenomenon, I mean any (or all) of the following:
1. Another physical feature of the world which it fits to, like roads aligning with a map and its terrain (and obstacles).
2. Another instance of what appears to fulfil a similar purpose despite entirely different paths to get there or materials (like with convergence)
3. A conceptual feature of the world, like a purpose or function.
So, we can more readily understand an emergent phenomenon in relation to some other macroscopic phenomenon than we can were we to merely inspect the cells in isolation. In other words, there is usefulness identifying the 20+ varieties of eyes as “eyes” (2) even though they are not the same at all, on a cellular level. It is also meaningful to understand that they perform a function or purpose (3), and that they fit the physical world (by reflecting it relatively accurately) (1).