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Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software

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Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
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Description

In the tradition of Being Digital and The Tipping Point, Steven Johnson, acclaimed as a “cultural critic with a poet’s heart” (The Village Voice), takes readers on an eye-opening journey through emergence theory and its applications.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
A VOICE LITERARY SUPPLEMENT TOP 25 FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
AN ESQUIRE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Explaining why the whole is every now and then smarter than the sum of its parts, Johnson presents surprising examples of feedback, self-organization, and adaptive learning. How does a full of life neighborhood evolve out of a disconnected group of shopkeepers, bartenders, and real estate developers? How does a media event take on a life of its own? How will new software programs create an intelligent World Wide Web?

In the coming years, the power of self-organization — coupled with the connective technology of the Internet — will usher in a revolution every bit as significant as the introduction of electricity. Provocative and engaging, Emergence puts you on the front lines of this exciting upheaval in science and thought.
An individual ant, like an individual neuron, is just about as dumb as can also be. Connect enough of them together properly, though, and you get spontaneous intelligence. Web pundit Steven Johnson explains what we know about this phenomenon with a rare lucidity in Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. Starting with the weird behavior of the semi-colonial organisms we call slime molds, Johnson details the development of increasingly complex and familiar behavior among simple components: cells, insects, and software developers all find their place in greater schemes.

Most game players, alas, continue to exist something close to day-trader time, at least when they’re in the midst of a game–thinking more about their next move than their next meal, and regularly blissfully oblivious to the ten- or twenty-year trajectory of software development. No one wants to play with a toy that’s going to be fun after a couple of decades of tinkering–the toys need to be engaging now, or kids will find other toys.

Johnson has a knack for explaining complicated and counterintuitive ideas cleverly without stealing the scene. Though we’re far from fully understanding how complex behavior manifests from simple units and rules, our awareness that such emergence is conceivable is guiding research across disciplines. Readers unfamiliar with the sciences of complexity will find Emergence an excellent starting point, at the same time as those who were chaotic before it was cool will appreciate its updates and wider scope. –Rob Lightner
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
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