Emergent Phenomena Only Belong to Biology

In this philosophical paper, I discuss and illustrate the necessary three ingredients which together could allow a collective phenomenon to be labelled as “emergent”. First the phenomenon, as usual, requires a group of natural objects entering in a non-linear relationship and potentially entailing the existence of various semantic descriptions depending on the human scale of observation. Second this phenomenon has to be observed by a mechanical observer instead of a human one, which has the natural capacity for temporal and/or spatial integration. Finally, for this natural observer to detect and select the collective phenomenon, it needs to do so in rewards of the adaptive value this phenomenon is responsible for. The necessity for such a teleological characterization and the presence of natural selection drive us to defend, with many authors, the idea that emergent phenomena should only belong to biology. Following a brief philosophical plea, we present a simple and illustrative computer thought experiment in which a society of agents evolves a stigmergic collective behavior as an outcome of its greater adaptive value. The three ingredients are illustrated and discussed within this experimental context. Such an inclusion of the mechanical observer and the selection as much natural to which this phenomenon is submitted should underlie the necessary de-subjectivation that strengthens any scientific endeavor. I shall finally show why the short paths taken by ants colony, the collective flying of birds and the maximum consumption of nutrients by a cellular metabolism are strongly emergent.