How do new capabilities arise when separate entities become organised into systems? And what makes those capabilities genuinely new?
My latest General Systems Theory paper, A Causal Account of Emergence, explores these questions by examining the physical causal processes through which emergent capabilities arise.
It builds upon my previous paper, Causal Assembly Theory: Assembly and Disassembly as Causal Processes, and takes a further step towards grounding General Systems Theory in identifiable physical mechanisms.
The central proposal is that emergence occurs when the organisation of participating components establishes and maintains a capability to produce or accept physical transfers that those components cannot produce or accept independently.
These transfers may involve matter, energy or physically embodied information. The novelty lies not in the creation of new substances or forms of energy, but in what the organised components can now do.
The paper distinguishes emergence from causal integration. When components become organised into a system, their existing capabilities may be suppressed, mediated or redirected. Such changes do not necessarily constitute emergence. A genuinely emergent capability must be distinguished from the altered expression of capabilities that already existed.
It also examines how emergent capabilities can remain available even when they are not being exercised.
A further theme is the distinction between assembly hierarchies and causal levels. Assemblies can become components of more extensive assemblies, creating successive levels of physical organisation. However, not every new level of assembly establishes a new emergent capability. Causal levels arise where genuinely new capabilities are established.
The paper then considers the evolutionary consequences of emergence. New capabilities can change the circumstances experienced by other entities, enabling or inhibiting further assembly, emergence and evolutionary change. Importantly, this does not imply that evolution must always proceed towards increasing complexity.
Finally, the paper proposes a practical approach to investigating emergence: identifying a suspected new capability, tracing the physical transfers involved, examining the participating components and testing whether the capability genuinely depends upon their organisation.
The aim is to make emergence more than a descriptive concept by providing a causal explanation that can be investigated and tested.
The paper draws upon established scientific examples, while recognising that the broader theoretical proposals require further investigation and validation.
The paper is accompanied by a set of free course modules, featuring formal descriptions, plain-English explanations, diagrams, examples and practical exercises. These are intended to help readers understand the concepts and apply them to practical situations.
Open-access paper and related work:
https://rational-understanding.com/efgst/#latest
https://www.academia.edu/180863938/A_Causal_Account_of_Emergence
Open-access course materials:
https://rational-understanding.com/gst-course/#latest
Supported learning is also available through Google Classroom via the ISSS Student SIG. Those in full-time or part-time education are especially encouraged to join, with opportunities for guidance, discussion and participation in an international systems community.
To join the ISSS:
