Emergence: When More Is Different

What happens when a system becomes more than just the sum of its parts?

In this session, we’ll explore the idea of emergence — the surprising patterns, behaviors, and structures that arise when simple elements interact in complex ways. We’ll begin with a substantial presentation that draws on two key papers:
• Philip Anderson’s classic “More Is Different”, which argues that new rules emerge at higher levels of complexity, even when the components are identical
• And a more recent piece by David Krakauer and Melanie Mitchell, exploring how emergence plays out in evolutionary and computational systems composed of diverse, interacting elements.

While the presentation will provide key framing, we’ll pause throughout for brief questions or comments. The main open discussion will follow the talk, allowing space for deeper exploration, debate, and connection.

You’re welcome to join whether you’ve read the papers or not — many of our members enjoy simply absorbing the flow of ideas — but some find the experience more engaging with a bit of background. For those interested, both papers and discussion links will be shared in our group Discord (link will be posted in the comments).