What is emergence?

[hanjing]

Hello,

Althought I have been in the area of Alife for 3 years, I still have
a question: 

    What is emergence? It seems not so clear to me. 

    Is there any definition? 

    Are there any criteria to judge whether a phenomenon is "emergence"? 

I have heard some oponions such as "unpredictable","unexpected",
but it may be caused by lack of knowledge or data... Because after we get 
this "unpredictable emergence", we can find a way to explain why it 
occurs -- so it is predictabl. 

This question has been in my mind for a long time, and I found it very 
important. 


I will be very happy to get any answers.

Thanks a lot and sorry for my question!

Han Jing









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