Emergence - Mental Model
When something is greater than the sum of its parts.
Today's article is the 42nd of this year. If you’re a fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you’ll know that 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.
If you asked me what the answer to the ultimate question is, I’d say 'emergence,' which, unlike a fictional number, is a real-world concept that helps us understand complex systems.
Emergence happens when simple interactions between parts of a system create complex behaviours. These features are not found in the individual parts and are difficult to predict.
The best example is you: each of your cells has a job, but together they create life and even consciousness. Other great examples from nature are birds following simple rules to form flying formations, or ants using simple rules to build complex colonies.
Emergence helps us understand the world and embrace its unexpected behaviour. It applies to every complex system, from nature, technology, people, and even how we grow as individuals.
Features of Emergence
Use this mental model not to predict emergent actions (which is hard), but to acknowledge that they are possible.
Emergence in Tech
Unexpected behaviours, over which we have no control, will happen.
You should expect that:
You won't have full control over emergence, so embrace the unexpected. For example, bugs in software happen, and it's impossible to avoid them.
The more you understand individual components, the easier it is to predict emerging features. For instance, debugging the whole system is easier if we are familiar with each smaller microservice.
Each time you think of something as "magic", the truth may lie in emerging features that are difficult to predict: LLMs are not intelligent, yet their answers sometimes feel like intelligence. These are a great example of emergence where just the probability of words creates unexpected yet practical applications.
Emergence in Groups
Groups can be defined as systems consisting of individuals where everyone has their knowledge, ideas, and perspective. Combining what the group knows in a new way can result in unexpected outcomes. These outcomes would be impossible without people cooperating.
Examples of emergence while working with people:
Discuss, present and challenge your perspectives. New ideas can emerge from collective knowledge.
Team performance can emerge as more than the sum of its parts when each team member complements their set of skills.
Organisational culture is an emergent result of all the interactions between its members.
I wrote an article about generating ideas which aim for emergence: “On Generating Ideas”.
Emergence for Your Growth
Learning new skills and interacting with new people can introduce the novelty you need to create (emerge) new connections within your existing knowledge.
Every time you try something different, like learning a new language or taking up a new hobby, you add new knowledge that can combine with what you already know.
It leads to creative ideas or solving problems in unexpected ways. For example, playing chess helped me to improve my focus and ability to think about what my opponent plans as a next move – skills that can be useful in other parts of life.
To let emergence happen in your personal growth, venture outside your Circle of Competence and try new things. You may create surprising new connections.
Summary
Thinking about emergence helps us embrace how the world works.
It reminds us that even the most complex systems — in nature, technology, or our personal lives — are often the result of simple parts working together in unexpected ways. It shows us that simple things can create something complex.
I hope you won't be surprised the next time you notice an unexpected feature — it might be “emergence” at work.
Thanks for reading,
— Michał
Post Notes
Discover Weekly — Shoutouts
Articles that might help you explore new perspectives, which I’ve read recently:
"How to have 27 hours in your day" by
"Out With the Old: 3 Steps for a Successful Software Migration Plan" by
and
Great article. Like every other piece you write. Appreciate it.
I loved this one:
> LLMs are not intelligent, yet their answers sometimes feel like intelligence. These are a great example of emergence where just the probability of words creates unexpected yet practical applications.
I almost feel offended every time I hear AI 😃 It's super important to know the difference, especially if you plan to use the results of LLM for work.