AES263 Emergence

Have you ever wondered how a single ant on its own is pretty much useless and without a will of its own, but an ant colony is such a complex and well-oiled machine that it seems like it's living its own purposeful existence? A single fish is hardly remarkable, but seeing a giant school of fish move through the water in perfect harmony is an amazing and puzzling sight. And come to think of it, where did the cells in our bodies even learn to clump together in such a specific way? How is this even possible? 

Emergence is an interesting natural phenomena that happens everywhere. Simply put, emergence is when a bunch of simple things band together to form something much more complex; in the end becoming more than the sum of their parts. Emergence is the fundamental basis of the beauty and complexity of the universe we live in today.

We can see emergence in every level of existence; Atoms form molecules, molecules form protein, proteins form cells, cells make up organs, organs make up individuals, and individuals form societies. It can achieve this by following rules that form order through chaos. They interact with each other in very specific ways that allow them to achieve great things. In each level, they combine , communicate and coordinate with each other, taking up individual roles that serve a purpose greater than themselves. 

Which brings up many interesting questions, we don’t precisely know how life began to form, or even have a good definition of what a living thing is.  All we know is that life is the eventual emergent result of things that are not alive. How is this possible? Is our consciousness simply the result of the emergence of our brain cells as well? The answers to these questions are still unreachable for us today, but I hope somewhere in the future we can solve this mystery. 

We are made of billions upon trillions of individually stupid and useless things, and yet together, they made us. We are them and they are us, countless layers of incrementally more complex collections of the building blocks of life working together in perfect unison. Anything complex and beautiful first emerges from simple, unremarkable things. And the result of that is you and me. Everything in this universe exists in a delicate balance of order and chaos. Now that’s something to think about.