− | [[Emergence]] has always been an important characteristic in [https://wiki.swarma.org/index.php/%E5%A4%8D%E6%9D%82%E7%B3%BB%E7%BB%9F [[complex systems]]] and a core concept in many discussions about system [[complexity]] and the relationship between the macroscopic and microscopic levels <ref>Meehl P E, Sellars W. The concept of emergence[J]. Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, 1956, 1239-252.</ref><ref name=":7">Holland J H. [[Emergence]]: From chaos to order[M]. OUP Oxford, 2000.</ref>. [[Emergence]] can be simply understood as the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, that is, the whole exhibits new characteristics that the individuals constituting it do not possess <ref>Anderson P W. More is different: broken symmetry and the nature of the hierarchical structure of science[J]. Science, 1972, 177(4047): 393-396.</ref>. Although scholars have pointed out the existence of [[Emergence]] phenomena in various fields <ref name=":7" /><ref>Holland, J.H. Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity; Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc.: Boston, MA, USA, 1996.</ref>, such as the collective behavior of birds <ref>Reynolds, C.W. Flocks, herds and schools: A distributed behavioral model. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Anaheim, CA, USA, 27–31 July 1987; pp. 25–34.</ref>, the formation of [[consciousness]] in the brain, and the [[emergent]] capabilities of large language models <ref>Wei, J.; Tay, Y.; Bommasani, R.; Raffel, C.; Zoph, B.; Borgeaud, S.; Yogatama, D.; Bosma, M.; Zhou, D.; Metzler, D.; et al. Emergent abilities of large language models. arXiv 2022, arXiv:2206.07682.</ref>, there is currently no universally accepted unified understanding of this phenomenon. Previous research on [[Emergence]] mostly stayed at the qualitative stage. For example, Bedau et al. <ref name=":9">Bedau, M.A. Weak [[emergence]]. Philos. Perspect. 1997, 11, 375–399. [CrossRef] </ref><ref>Bedau, M. Downward causation and the autonomy of weak [[emergence]]. Principia Int. J. Epistemol. 2002, 6, 5–50. </ref> conducted classified research on [[Emergence]], dividing [[Emergence]] into nominal [[emergence]] <ref name=":10">Harré, R. The Philosophies of Science; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA, 1985.</ref><ref name=":11">Baas, N.A. [[Emergence]], hierarchies, and hyperstructures. In Artificial Life III, SFI Studies in the Science of Complexity, XVII; Routledge: Abingdon, UK, 1994; pp. 515–537.</ref>, weak [[emergence]] <ref name=":9" /><ref>Newman, D.V. [[Emergence]] and strange attractors. Philos. Sci. 1996, 63, 245–261. [CrossRef]</ref>, and strong [[emergence]] <ref name=":12">Kim, J. ‘Downward causation’ in emergentism and nonreductive physicalism. In [[Emergence]] or Reduction; Walter de Gruyter: Berlin, Germany, 1992; pp. 119–138. </ref><ref name=":13">O’Connor, T. [[Emergent]] properties. Am. Philos. Q. 1994, 31, 91–104</ref>. | + | [[Emergence]] has always been an important characteristic in [[complex systems]] and a core concept in many discussions about system [[complexity]] and the relationship between the macroscopic and microscopic levels <ref>Meehl P E, Sellars W. The concept of emergence[J]. Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, 1956, 1239-252.</ref><ref name=":7">Holland J H. Emergence: From chaos to order[M]. OUP Oxford, 2000.</ref>. [[Emergence]] can be simply understood as the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, that is, the whole exhibits new characteristics that the individuals constituting it do not possess <ref>Anderson P W. More is different: broken symmetry and the nature of the hierarchical structure of science[J]. Science, 1972, 177(4047): 393-396.</ref>. Although scholars have pointed out the existence of [[emergence]] phenomena in various fields <ref name=":7" /><ref>Holland, J.H. Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity; Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc.: Boston, MA, USA, 1996.</ref>, such as the collective behavior of birds <ref>Reynolds, C.W. Flocks, herds and schools: A distributed behavioral model. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Anaheim, CA, USA, 27–31 July 1987; pp. 25–34.</ref>, the formation of consciousness in the brain, and the [[emergence]] capabilities of large language models <ref>Wei, J.; Tay, Y.; Bommasani, R.; Raffel, C.; Zoph, B.; Borgeaud, S.; Yogatama, D.; Bosma, M.; Zhou, D.; Metzler, D.; et al. Emergent abilities of large language models. arXiv 2022, arXiv:2206.07682.</ref>, there is currently no universally accepted unified understanding of this phenomenon. Previous research on [[emergence]] mostly stayed at the qualitative stage. For example, Bedau et al. <ref name=":9">Bedau, M.A. Weak emergence. Philos. Perspect. 1997, 11, 375–399. [CrossRef] </ref><ref>Bedau, M. Downward causation and the autonomy of weak emergence. Principia Int. J. Epistemol. 2002, 6, 5–50. </ref> conducted classified research on [[emergence]], dividing [[emergence]] into nominal [[emergence]] <ref name=":10">Harré, R. The Philosophies of Science; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA, 1985.</ref><ref name=":11">Baas, N.A. Emergence, hierarchies, and hyperstructures. In Artificial Life III, SFI Studies in the Science of Complexity, XVII; Routledge: Abingdon, UK, 1994; pp. 515–537.</ref>, weak [[emergence]] <ref name=":9" /><ref>Newman, D.V. Emergence and strange attractors. Philos. Sci. 1996, 63, 245–261. [CrossRef]</ref>, and strong [[emergence]] <ref name=":12">Kim, J. ‘Downward causation’ in emergentism and nonreductive physicalism. In Emergence or Reduction; Walter de Gruyter: Berlin, Germany, 1992; pp. 119–138. </ref><ref name=":13">O’Connor, T. Emergent properties. Am. Philos. Q. 1994, 31, 91–104</ref>. |
| Emergence has always been an important characteristic in complex systems and a core concept in many discussions about system complexity and the relationship between the macroscopic and microscopic levels <ref>Meehl P E, Sellars W. The concept of emergence[J]. Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, 1956, 1239-252.</ref><ref name=":7">Holland J H. Emergence: From chaos to order[M]. OUP Oxford, 2000.</ref>. Emergence can be simply understood as the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, that is, the whole exhibits new characteristics that the individuals constituting it do not possess <ref>Anderson P W. More is different: broken symmetry and the nature of the hierarchical structure of science[J]. Science, 1972, 177(4047): 393-396.</ref>. Although scholars have pointed out the existence of emergence phenomena in various fields <ref name=":7" /><ref>Holland, J.H. Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity; Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc.: Boston, MA, USA, 1996.</ref>, such as the collective behavior of birds <ref>Reynolds, C.W. Flocks, herds and schools: A distributed behavioral model. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Anaheim, CA, USA, 27–31 July 1987; pp. 25–34.</ref>, the formation of consciousness in the brain, and the emergent capabilities of large language models <ref>Wei, J.; Tay, Y.; Bommasani, R.; Raffel, C.; Zoph, B.; Borgeaud, S.; Yogatama, D.; Bosma, M.; Zhou, D.; Metzler, D.; et al. Emergent abilities of large language models. arXiv 2022, arXiv:2206.07682.</ref>, there is currently no universally accepted unified understanding of this phenomenon. Previous research on emergence mostly stayed at the qualitative stage. For example, Bedau et al. <ref name=":9">Bedau, M.A. Weak emergence. Philos. Perspect. 1997, 11, 375–399. [CrossRef] </ref><ref>Bedau, M. Downward causation and the autonomy of weak emergence. Principia Int. J. Epistemol. 2002, 6, 5–50. </ref> conducted classified research on emergence, dividing emergence into nominal emergence <ref name=":10">Harré, R. The Philosophies of Science; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA , 1985.</ref><ref name=":11">Baas, N.A. Emergence, hierarchies, and hyperstructures. In Artificial Life III, SFI Studies in the Science of Complexity, XVII; Routledge: Abingdon, UK, 1994; pp. 515–537.</ref>, weak emergence <ref name=":9" /><ref>Newman, D.V. Emergence and strange attractors. Philos. Sci. 1996, 63, 245–261. [CrossRef]</ref>, and strong emergence <ref name=":12">Kim, J. ‘Downward causation’ in emergentism and nonreductive physicalism. In Emergence or Reduction; Walter de Gruyter: Berlin, Germany, 1992; pp. 119–138. </ref><ref name=":13">O’Connor, T. Emergent properties. Am. Philos. Q. 1994, 31, 91–104</ref>. | | Emergence has always been an important characteristic in complex systems and a core concept in many discussions about system complexity and the relationship between the macroscopic and microscopic levels <ref>Meehl P E, Sellars W. The concept of emergence[J]. Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, 1956, 1239-252.</ref><ref name=":7">Holland J H. Emergence: From chaos to order[M]. OUP Oxford, 2000.</ref>. Emergence can be simply understood as the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, that is, the whole exhibits new characteristics that the individuals constituting it do not possess <ref>Anderson P W. More is different: broken symmetry and the nature of the hierarchical structure of science[J]. Science, 1972, 177(4047): 393-396.</ref>. Although scholars have pointed out the existence of emergence phenomena in various fields <ref name=":7" /><ref>Holland, J.H. Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity; Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc.: Boston, MA, USA, 1996.</ref>, such as the collective behavior of birds <ref>Reynolds, C.W. Flocks, herds and schools: A distributed behavioral model. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Anaheim, CA, USA, 27–31 July 1987; pp. 25–34.</ref>, the formation of consciousness in the brain, and the emergent capabilities of large language models <ref>Wei, J.; Tay, Y.; Bommasani, R.; Raffel, C.; Zoph, B.; Borgeaud, S.; Yogatama, D.; Bosma, M.; Zhou, D.; Metzler, D.; et al. Emergent abilities of large language models. arXiv 2022, arXiv:2206.07682.</ref>, there is currently no universally accepted unified understanding of this phenomenon. Previous research on emergence mostly stayed at the qualitative stage. For example, Bedau et al. <ref name=":9">Bedau, M.A. Weak emergence. Philos. Perspect. 1997, 11, 375–399. [CrossRef] </ref><ref>Bedau, M. Downward causation and the autonomy of weak emergence. Principia Int. J. Epistemol. 2002, 6, 5–50. </ref> conducted classified research on emergence, dividing emergence into nominal emergence <ref name=":10">Harré, R. The Philosophies of Science; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA , 1985.</ref><ref name=":11">Baas, N.A. Emergence, hierarchies, and hyperstructures. In Artificial Life III, SFI Studies in the Science of Complexity, XVII; Routledge: Abingdon, UK, 1994; pp. 515–537.</ref>, weak emergence <ref name=":9" /><ref>Newman, D.V. Emergence and strange attractors. Philos. Sci. 1996, 63, 245–261. [CrossRef]</ref>, and strong emergence <ref name=":12">Kim, J. ‘Downward causation’ in emergentism and nonreductive physicalism. In Emergence or Reduction; Walter de Gruyter: Berlin, Germany, 1992; pp. 119–138. </ref><ref name=":13">O’Connor, T. Emergent properties. Am. Philos. Q. 1994, 31, 91–104</ref>. |
| In 2013, Erik Hoel, an American theoretical neurobiologist, tried to introduce causality into the measurement of emergence, proposed the concept of causal emergence, and used effective information (EI for short) to quantify the strength of causality in system dynamics <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />. '''Causal emergence can be described as: when a system has a stronger causal effect on a macroscopic scale compared to its microscopic scale, causal emergence occurs.''' Causal emergence well characterizes the differences and connections between the macroscopic and microscopic states of a system. At the same time, it combines the two core concepts - causality in artificial intelligence and emergence in complex systems - together. Causal emergence also provides scholars with a quantitative perspective to answer a series of philosophical questions. For example, the top-down causal characteristics in life systems or social systems can be discussed with the help of the causal emergence framework. The top-down causation here refers to downward causation [26], indicating the existence of macroscopic-to-microscopic causal effects. For example, in the phenomenon of a gecko breaking its tail. When encountering danger, the gecko directly breaks off its tail regardless of its condition. Here, the whole is the cause and the tail is the effect. Then there is a causal force from the whole pointing to the part. | | In 2013, Erik Hoel, an American theoretical neurobiologist, tried to introduce causality into the measurement of emergence, proposed the concept of causal emergence, and used effective information (EI for short) to quantify the strength of causality in system dynamics <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />. '''Causal emergence can be described as: when a system has a stronger causal effect on a macroscopic scale compared to its microscopic scale, causal emergence occurs.''' Causal emergence well characterizes the differences and connections between the macroscopic and microscopic states of a system. At the same time, it combines the two core concepts - causality in artificial intelligence and emergence in complex systems - together. Causal emergence also provides scholars with a quantitative perspective to answer a series of philosophical questions. For example, the top-down causal characteristics in life systems or social systems can be discussed with the help of the causal emergence framework. The top-down causation here refers to downward causation [26], indicating the existence of macroscopic-to-microscopic causal effects. For example, in the phenomenon of a gecko breaking its tail. When encountering danger, the gecko directly breaks off its tail regardless of its condition. Here, the whole is the cause and the tail is the effect. Then there is a causal force from the whole pointing to the part. |