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The new math of how large-scale order emerges


The puzzle of emergence asks how regularities emerge on macro scales out of uncountable constituent parts. A new framework has researchers hopeful that a solution is near.

Again, typically no: Interventions we make at the macro level, such as changing the software code by typing on the keyboard, are not made more reliable by trying to alter individual electron trajectories. Consider, for instance, that we can use macroscopic variables like pressure and viscosity to talk about (and control) fluid flow, and knowing the positions and trajectories of individual molecules doesn’t add useful information for those purposes. Rosas wonders if living organisms are in fact optimized by allowing for such “leaky” partial emergence — because in life, sometimes it is essential for the macro to heed the details of the micro.

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