If you put a
number of agents (things) which behave according to simple rules
together, you can get highly complex behaviours as a result. (e.g.
flocking in boids, etc)
In most ways even
human agents can be regarded as being things which behave according to
simple rules (see discussion about consciousness),
and we can see emergent behaviours in the way crowds react to
events. But how much more complex are the behaviours which can
emerge from the interaction of agents which are already complex?
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The wisdom of the crowd
A concept, and a book
(review).
The basic idea is that, despite crowds being made up of people of a wide
range of ability, on average they will tend to produce sensible
'analysis' of a problem. It is this type of thinking which gives us
the strength behind the folksonomy and
it certainly does have its strengths.
Personally I
wouldn't base any critical systems on it, just yet. I still have a
strong level of belief in the crowd's ability to sink to the level of the
lowest common denominator, at least in face to face situations.
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Consciousness as an
emergent property?
I think that consciousness, as in the higher level conscious
activity of the mind, is probably an emergent property of a (relatively
complex) basic structure which has the ability to recognise others like
it, and the need to predict how others will behave.
I further believe that imagination is due to the stochastic
nature of neuronal activity, and the reason that we do not endlessly
indulge in flights of fancy is because we build up models against
which we check the nature of our perceptions (and imagination can be
presented to our awareness
as though it were a normal perception)
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