Self-Organization in Relation to Several Similar Concepts: Are the Boundaries to Self-Organization Indistinct? Export

@article{citeulike:271091, abstract = {Self-organization is a concept and phenomenon whereby system-level patterns spontaneously arise solely from interactions among subunits of the system. Focusing on self-organization at the organismal level, I ask the question: are the boundaries to self-organization indistinct? After reviewing a number of published definitions of self-organization, I explore the conceptual boundaries among self-organization and two similar concepts, stigmergy and self-assembly. I highlight borderline cases that may blur the distinction among these and suggest that they may indeed be conceptually indistinct and difficult to separate in practice. Consequently, I propose a classification scheme based upon three aspects: whether the stimuli to which individuals respond are quantitative or qualitative, whether positive feedback is involved, and whether interindividual interactions are direct or indirect (stigmergic). In addition, I consider several other issues about self-organization, including (1) could a self-organized system use global information? (2) what is the role of the degree of correlation of activity among individuals? and (3) what is the role of positive feedback?}, author = {Anderson, Carl}, citeulike-article-id = {271091}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/content/full/202/3/247}, journal = {The Biological Bulletin}, keywords = {emergence, information-theory, self-organization, stigmergy}, month = {June}, number = {3}, pages = {247--255}, posted-at = {2005-08-01 22:16:07}, priority = {0}, title = {Self-Organization in Relation to Several Similar Concepts: Are the Boundaries to Self-Organization Indistinct?}, url = {http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/content/full/202/3/247}, volume = {202}, year = {2002} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:271091 L3 - citeulike-article-id:271091 N2 - Self-organization is a concept and phenomenon whereby system-level patterns spontaneously arise solely from interactions among subunits of the system. Focusing on self-organization at the organismal level, I ask the question: are the boundaries to self-organization indistinct? After reviewing a number of published definitions of self-organization, I explore the conceptual boundaries among self-organization and two similar concepts, stigmergy and self-assembly. I highlight borderline cases that may blur the distinction among these and suggest that they may indeed be conceptually indistinct and difficult to separate in practice. Consequently, I propose a classification scheme based upon three aspects: whether the stimuli to which individuals respond are quantitative or qualitative, whether positive feedback is involved, and whether interindividual interactions are direct or indirect (stigmergic). In addition, I consider several other issues about self-organization, including (1) could a self-organized system use global information? (2) what is the role of the degree of correlation of activity among individuals? and (3) what is the role of positive feedback? IS - 3 JF - The Biological Bulletin EP - 255 TI - Self-Organization in Relation to Several Similar Concepts: Are the Boundaries to Self-Organization Indistinct? VL - 202 SP - 247 KW - emergence KW - information-theory KW - self-organization KW - stigmergy AU - Anderson, Carl PY - 2002/06// UR - http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/content/full/202/3/247 ER -