Saturday, 3 September 2022

What's a strong emergence

 Some more explanation on emergence will be nice- no one said. But as usual i thought why cant i give it anyway. I do love telling people what they absolutely never need or asked for. Well in a way all these blogs are that, but hopefully it amuses some.

From thin air- which we can see we get produce or get water. we might have even observed this when we put a cold glass of water and in sometime viola droplets appear on the outside like magic. You see there is even phase shift- from air to liquid. Is this emergence- apparently not. It is important for us to know this can be deduced - that is the chemical reaction of how this happens. The second reason are the most important reason is emergence is usually reserved for complex systems as simple systems are easy to figure out for scientist 

When we see magic- we see something emerge out of thin air. like money, a beautiful women or even cards which you thought in your mind. When we try to deduce it, it seem impossible, like Jesus turning water into wine or Krishna opening his mouth to show the universe. Well if it is not impossible to produce the end product, to its constituting ingredients- then it is emergence. So a women or the card you thought or the wine cannot come from the materials available isnt it. I mean wine without grapes, women without - well you get the point. But again this is not emergence -as we know these are either perceptual tricks - and well if you still think magic is real- i dont know weather to be jealous of the kid inside you or think whats wrong with your frontal brain.

But sometimes in a complex system it is difficult to see how something emerges.  How did we happen to get friends in FB who we have no way of knowing, geographically divergent, divergent interest and so on. How did a "guru" or televangelist get- that too after be exposed for all the sexual adventures and seemingly childish sermons- difficult to know how the huge following emerged? not really it seems. Unlike us smart people can deduce to some extent how these things emerge- some call them weak emergence. There is a some causal pathways but not perfect. But we will come to understand better when we get more data- like what mark and his mafia are doing with the algorithm in FB.

Well now the only strong emergence according to many philosophers, physicists, biologist and mathematicians is conscious. From the underlying material- the brain tissue- how is it we are developing conscious- the ability to think move and tell our loved ones- you ruined my life. Can materialism failing us? it seems so- i dont have any idea how it is failing us as i am none of the above scholars. But i can imagine the marvel of brain. When i talk i know i am doing it without thinking and sometimes people are amazed with what comes out of my mouth especially children and then sometimes it is so vile people are astonished- all these without much of planning. Only when i am mindful i seem feel like i am planning. No one plans to drive a car it seems to emerge from our brain- where to brake, go faster, slower, look around when something happens without losing control and like  saravanan- driving the car without any awareness of potholes and speed breaker and when we all complain smile sheepishly and reply " hahaha, I did not see". All these emerge and we have the faintest idea how all these happen. That is emergence- a strong emergence- from a complex system of chemical system with so many parts we walk, talk, think - that for now is magic. No explanation is complete clear and able to explain. 

Others like walking on water, showing the universe in the mouth are for children who will believe rajinikanth is a actor, and I am Santa Claus with dyed hair. Children dont have a developed frontal brain.

      


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