Introduction to Emergence

• Emergence involves large-scale patterns arising from numerous small interactions, seen in examples like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and human brain activity.
• Philosophical confusion about emergence has persisted due to a lack of proper analytical and conceptual tools.

New Framework for Emergence

• Researchers developed a new theoretical framework that defines emergence as a system organizing into a hierarchy of levels, each functioning independently of the microscopic parts.
• Using computational mechanics, they identified criteria to determine systems with hierarchical structures of emergence.

Computational Closure

• Three types of closure explain emergent systems: informational closure (macro-level predictability without micro-level details), causal closure (macro-level interventions don’t rely on micro-level details), and computational closure (macro-level operations are coarse-grained versions of micro-level operations).
• The ε-machine concept, an optimal state representation method, is pivotal to understanding computational closure within complex systems.

Testing and Examples

• The hierarchical theory was tested using model systems like random walks in city-like networks and neural networks in machine learning.
• These tests showed that such systems are highly lumpable, meaning their macro behaviors are predictable regardless of micro-level differences.

Causal Emergence and Its Implications

• Causal emergence posits that higher-level system behaviors can have more causal influence than their micro-components.
• This challenges the traditional view that causation only flows from the bottom up and suggests that macroscopic descriptions can minimize micro-level noise.
• The theory has implications for understanding free will and higher-level causation, suggesting macro systems can drive behaviors independently of lower-level specifics.

Living Systems and Leaky Emergence

• While some systems show clear hierarchical emergence, others, like living organisms, show “leaky” partial emergence where micro-level details sometimes affect macro-level outcomes.
• Life seems optimized by this partial emergence, balancing macro-level independence with essential micro-level influences.