John H. Holland’s book Emergence: From Chaos to Order is not particularly light reading. People who are mathier-than-I (sure,
that’s a word, right?) might have an easier time following some of his
arguments. There is a chapter on
metaphor, for those of us who feel happier among the poets. That’s the disclaimer.
The central idea of the book is
that a few simple rules, as in a game, can produce surprising complexity that
is difficult or impossible to predict from an examination of the rules. This “emergence” implies some
interesting things for areas as diverse as genetics and cognition. It also impacts the art of model
building, which, in turn, allows us to understand complex phenomena.
It is always worth reading books
that stretch the brain. I think
that I put it on my blog reading list because the book was referred to in one
of the books that traced our evolution; we do emerge, complex, from a fairly
limited number of building blocks, after all.
I would recommend it, and maybe a
math tutor. At least for me.
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