Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!dcl-cs!aber-cs!ares!kas From: kas@cs.aber.ac.uk (Kevin Sharp) Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy Subject: Re: emergent properties Message-ID: Date: 4 Oct 90 16:00:21 GMT References: <1990Sep29.213139.2876@watdragon.waterloo.edu> <3499@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> Sender: kas@aber-cs.UUCP Organization: Robotics Research Group, UCW, Aberystwyth Lines: 20 In-reply-to: minsky@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU's message of 29 Sep 90 23:12:37 GMT Maybe I'm just ridiculously naive, but I've always believed that an emergent property was simply one which was not *expected* when the system was designed. This usually only refers to desirable properties --- others being termed bugs :-) Many of the examples cited in earlier postings exhibit emergence because it is difficult to predict the behavior of the system eg. non-linear or chaotic systems, or those with many interacting parts. Of course unexpected behavior can always be viewed as the lack of adequate foresight, or to quote Pope... "He who expects little will never be disappointed" -- -- Kevin Sharp, UUCP : {WALES}!ukc!aber-cs!kas AI and Robotics Research Group, JANET: kas@uk.ac.aber.cs Department of Computer Science, PHONE: +44 970 622450 University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, UK. SY23 3BZ