I'm interested in this phenomenon; emergence - what exactly is it? Are there other examples of a scale comparable to life, to consciousness, that we can cite (or are all other things that could be said to be emergent simply 'mini-me' versions of the phenomenon)?
Could we, with sufficient computing power, predict other 'great emergents' that might appear, were time and matter given free rein in order to pursue the business? If consciousness is an emergent property of life appearing above a given level of complex organisation of the latter, what next? Is consciousness just the initial emergent property, a precursor of many more to come at yet higher levels of complexity, each a predicated step in 'what the physics will allow for', when the conditions allowing for it prevail? A chain of emergences beginning with life and ending who knows with what and where? Would a super emergent being looking down on us be able to say "Yes - we recognise where this is going", or might the direction of emergence be super-sensitive to the random fluctuations of a butterfly wing flapping in Beijing?
I've seen the terms emergence and emergent property used by physicists and others to explain the appearance of phenomena, but they always go on to consider the phenomena themselves rather than to look at this strange and fascinating thing itself. What is it: how does it work.......
That's what I'd like to know!
