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Epistemological Constraints When Evaluating Ontological Emergence with Computational Complex Adaptive Systems

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Unifying Themes in Complex Systems IX (ICCS 2018)

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Abstract

Natural complex adaptive systems are of particular scientific interest in many domains, as they may produce something new, like structures, patterns, or properties, that arise from the rules of self-organization. These novelties are emergent if they cannot be understood as any property of the components, but as a new property of the system. One of the leading methods to better understand complex adaptive systems is the use of their computational representation. In this paper, we make the case that emergence in computational complex adaptive systems can only be epistemological, as the constraints of computer functions do not allow for the creation of something new, as required for ontological emergence. As such, computer representations of complex adaptive systems are limited in producing emergence, but nonetheless useful to better understand the relationship between emergence and complex adaptive systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The MITRE Corporation, Hampton, VA, 23666, USA

    Andreas Tolk, Matthew T. K. Koehler & Michael D. Norman

Authors
  1. Andreas Tolk
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  2. Matthew T. K. Koehler
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  3. Michael D. Norman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Tolk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. New England Complex Systems Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Alfredo J. Morales

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Carlos Gershenson

  3. New England Complex Systems Institute and University of Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Dan Braha

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Ali A. Minai

  5. New England Complex Systems Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Yaneer Bar-Yam

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Tolk, A., Koehler, M.T.K., Norman, M.D. (2018). Epistemological Constraints When Evaluating Ontological Emergence with Computational Complex Adaptive Systems. In: Morales, A., Gershenson, C., Braha, D., Minai, A., Bar-Yam, Y. (eds) Unifying Themes in Complex Systems IX. ICCS 2018. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96661-8_1

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