of online communities, 148–62
as scientific discipline, 15–18, 20, 43, 63–67, 237n
see also emergence
“Self-Organizing Economy, The” (Krugman), 89
Selfridge, Oliver, 52–57, 62–65, 103, 169, 223, 231
sensory overload, 38–39, 147
serotonin, 262n
Shafer, B. M., 14–15
Shannon, Claude, 44–47, 53, 62–65, 241n
Shapiro, Andrew, 159–60
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 125
shopping malls, 90, 92
sidewalk culture, 51, 91–97, 99, 146, 147, 148, 230–31
silk weavers, 101, 102, 104–7, 124
SimCity, 66, 87–89, 98, 186, 205, 208, 229
Sims, The, 186–89, 209–10, 229
simulations, computer:
of aggregation, 16–17, 23, 59–63, 163–69
of ants, 59–63, 65
of cities, 66, 87–89, 98, 186, 229–30
of evolution, 56–63, 182–89, 193, 209–10
of genetics, 57–59, 182–86
models for, 9, 16–17, 23, 59–63
of self-organization, 59–63, 76, 163–69
60 Minutes, 144
Slashdot, 152–62, 205, 212, 223, 260n
Slate, 118, 128
sleep cycles, 140
slime mold (Dictyostelium discoideum), 11–17, 18, 20–21, 23, 43, 52, 63–64, 67, 163–69, 179, 180, 220, 235n, 236n, 246n
slums, 41, 49–50, 137
Smarties experiment, 196–97, 200, 261n–62n
Smith, Adam, 18, 156
Societas Mercatorum, 101
society:
ant colonies compared with, 97–98, 248n
emergence in, 22–23, 36–40, 49–50, 92–100
hierarchical, 14–15, 98
organization of, 9, 27, 33–41, 92–94, 97–100, 109, 204, 252n–54n
patterns in, 18, 36–40, 41, 49–50, 52, 91, 95, 137, 185
Society of Mind theory, 65
software:
emergent, 17, 21, 22, 121–26, 170–74, 186, 189, 204–8, 221–22, 223
gaming, 163–89
learning, 53–63, 65
for online communities, 148–62
Open Source, 222
pattern-recognition, 18, 21, 54, 56, 123–24, 126–29
personalized, 159–60, 207–8, 211, 212–13
see also programs, computer
SoHo (New York City), 50
Solenopsis invicta, 75
Sopranos, The, 219
spam, 153, 156, 161, 215–16
speech encryption, 44–45
spokescouncils, 226
StarLogo, 76, 163–69, 179, 205, 219, 247n, 260n
statistical analysis, 46–47, 76–77, 78
storytelling, 188–89
suburbia, 94–95, 230, 259n
Sun Microsystems, 224
surf engines, 122–23
synapses, 134
system events, 145
systems:
adaptive, 18, 19–20, 119, 128, 137, 139–40
bottom-up, 17, 18, 22, 53–57, 66–67, 83, 97–98, 115, 116, 133, 148, 164, 166, 207, 221–23, 231
climax stage of, 147–48, 152, 154
command, 15, 77, 83–84
complex, 18, 29, 78, 139–40, 246n
decentralized, 17, 22, 31–32, 39–40, 66, 76–79, 86, 117, 118–21, 163–89, 204–5, 217–18, 222, 233–34, 236n–37n, 263n
dynamic, 20, 248n–49n
emergent, see emergence
interactive, 22, 79, 81, 120, 123, 126, 158–59, 231
open-ended, 57–58, 180–89, 208
polycentric, 90–91, 159, 223
representational, 157–59
rule-governed, 19, 180–81, 226
self-organizing, see self-organization
self-regulating, 138, 140–41, 143, 146–47, 148, 149, 151, 154, 159
simple, 46, 47, 78
top-down, 14–15, 18, 30–31, 33, 98, 132, 136, 145, 148–49, 153, 208, 223, 225
“Take It to the Streets” (Berman), 95
Tap, Type, Write, 174–75, 177
Taylor, Chuck, 59–63, 65
TCG, 224
technology:
innovation in, 108–9, 111–12, 113, 116, 254n
slave, 125–26
see also computers
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, 115–16, 120
telephones, 47, 229
Terminator, 127
termites, 22, 73, 82
“theory of other minds,” 195–226
thermostats, 137–38, 150, 258n
thinking:
associative, 206
bottom-up, 66–67
decentralized, 17
group, 160
serial, 127
see also intelligence
Thomas, Lewis, 9
Thompson, D’Arcy, 236n, 259n
threaded discussion boards, 149–50
TiVo, 211–13, 214, 218
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 35
toys, 165–66, 178–80, 181
Tracker program, 59–63, 65
trade, 101–2, 104–7, 109, 110
traffic patterns, 97, 166, 204, 230–31, 232
traveling salesman problem, 227–29
tumors, brain, 119
Turing, Alan, 14, 18, 42–45, 49, 53, 54, 62–65, 67, 206, 236n, 242n, 254n–56n, 263n
Turing Machine, 42, 45
Turing Test, 42, 206
Turner, Ted, 135–36
“turtles,” 166, 167–68, 260n
undecidability problem, 42
Unreal, 208–9
urbanization, 99, 108, 109–13, 116, 146–48, 253n–54n
urban planning, 49–50, 51, 89, 92, 109, 146–47, 230–31
Usenet, 162
user ratings, 121–26, 129, 156–62, 214–15, 221–22
varicella-zoster virus, 103, 104
VCRs, 212
ventral premotor area, 198
video games, see games, computer
Virtual Community, The (Rheingold), 148
visual cortex, 201
Vocoder, 44
Washington Post, 131
Weaver, Warren, 46–49, 50, 51, 64–66
Well, 147–52, 153
West Village (New York City), 50, 93
Wheatley, Bill, 136
Wheeler, William Morton, 242n
White, Leslie, 253n
White, Lynn, Jr., 112
Wide Area Information Server (WAIS), 122
Wiener, Norbert, 53, 57, 64–65, 125–26, 139, 140, 143, 151–52, 162, 169, 238n, 251n, 259n–60n
Wilson, Edward O., 52, 60, 75
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 41
Wooten, Jim, 130–36, 137, 144–45
Wordsworth, William, 27, 39, 92, 98
working class, 37, 41, 52, 91, 95, 240n, 259n
World Wide Web, see Internet
Wright, Robert, 114, 115–17, 118
Wright, Will, 66, 87, 88, 186–89, 209–10, 229–30
Yahoo, 114, 117
Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 176, 177
Zimmerman, Eric, 178–80, 182, 186, 189
SCRIBNER
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Copyright © 2001 by Steven Johnson
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
First Scribner trade paperback edition 2004
SCRIBNER and design are trademarks of Macmillan Library Reference USA, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, the publisher of this work.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Johnson, Steven.
Emergence: the connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software/Steven Johnson.
&n
bsp; p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Self-organizing systems. 2. Swarm intelligence. 3. Systems engineering. I. Title.
Q325.J65 2001
003’.7—dc21 2001032215
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-86875-2
ISBN-10: 0-684-86875-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-86876-9 (Pbk)
ISBN-10: 0-684-86876-8 (Pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-74321-826-9 (eBook)