First, "emergent property" is an oft-misused term. With respect to consciousness, it is one of those hand-wavey terms people like to throw around without any substance behind it. Used appropriately, ...

In a recent 13.7 blog, Stuart Kauffman offers a large claim: "The becoming of the universe and all in it, including the biosphere, and, as we'll see, our economy and culture, cannot be fully described ...

In this post, I’d like to expand a bit on the “selfish gene”, which has proven to be quite a powerful idea, and to present my thoughts on why it nevertheless provides an incomplete view of evolution.

John Holland answered viewer questions about the concept of emergence on July 16, 2007. Please note we are no longer accepting questions, but please see Everyday Examples and our links and books ...

Shifting focus on a visual scene without moving our eyes—think driving, or reading a room for the reaction to your joke—is a ...

Resurgent interest in the genetics of population divergence and speciation coincides with recent critical evaluation of species concepts and proposals for species delimitation. An important result of ...

One of the boldest, most breathless claims being made about artificial intelligence tools is that they have “emergent properties” — impressive abilities gained by these programs that they were ...

1. Recreational fisheries are traditionally managed at local scales, but more effective management could be achieved using a cross-scale approach. To do this, we must first understand how local ...

In this post, I’d like to expand a bit on the “selfish gene”, which has proven to be quite a powerful idea, and to present my thoughts on why it nevertheless provides an incomplete view of evolution.