“Let K(.) be Kolmogorov complexity. Assume you have a system M consisting of and fully determined by n small identical parts C. Then M is ‘emergent’ if M can be well approximated by an object M’ such that K(M’) << n*K(C).”
That seems to describe what I described earlier:
“One common element that I have sometimes noticed is that an emergent phenomenon can be idealized and a simplified mathematical model constructed of it, which is not precisely correct but which is a very good approximation.”
I didn’t, by the way, intend this as a definition of emergence, though it or something thereabouts might qualify.
“Let K(.) be Kolmogorov complexity. Assume you have a system M consisting of and fully determined by n small identical parts C. Then M is ‘emergent’ if M can be well approximated by an object M’ such that K(M’) << n*K(C).”
That seems to describe what I described earlier:
“One common element that I have sometimes noticed is that an emergent phenomenon can be idealized and a simplified mathematical model constructed of it, which is not precisely correct but which is a very good approximation.”
I didn’t, by the way, intend this as a definition of emergence, though it or something thereabouts might qualify.