“Consider for instance an airplane. No one of its parts, singularly taken, can fly. The airplane, as a whole, can fly, that is shows the emergent property of flying. Where the potentiality of flying is hidden? It is neither in the single parts of the airplane nor in the totality of them when considered as mere set of elements. It is embodied in the cause or principle of the airplane, in its design, which gives organization to the set. This explains why the emergent properties are absent at the bottom level, the level of components: they arise thank to the cause/principle of the system and appear at the top level (the level of the fully assembled system). No wonder emergent properties are not reducible to properties of parts, the bottom level of the system: they don’t come from that direction, they come from the principle of the system. As A.K. Coomaraswamy wrote: “The principle of a thing is neither in one of its parts nor in the sum of its parts, rather where all parts are embedded in a unity without composition”.”
…
“Where are the proofs that: inorganic matter has the potentiality of life, brain has the potentiality of mind, a unique simple common ancestor has the potentiality of all species, the non human has the potentiality of the human, chance and physical-chemical laws have the potentiality of complex organization?”

Potentiality and Emergence post

Just got back from Thanksgiving at Mom’s place. After some flooding and renovation in her basement she’s taken household upheaval as an opportunity to purge some of the clutter she’s been living with for years. This includes boxes of her children’s toys and papers in the attic which we spent a little time going through. Five minutes in the attic with a flashlight and I come across some notes (circa 1984) that had us in stitches;

Handwritten note;
“To Darren I am very sorry that when you tried to help me at your own risk I turned against you Yours truly Ken”

Intrigued we read the typewritten note underneath, emphasis mine;

“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bockman:

Thank you for your note of yesterday. It would certainly appear that Darren was more ’sinned against than sinning’, and therefore should not have had to bear any blame.
The boys and I talked together and it appeared that all of them were part of the problem, only two of the boys took part in the more unpleasant incidents.

Darren did admit to being provocative and belligerent but certainly not equally to blame.

At that point it was difficult to specify the extent to which each individual should be punished and I did say to Darren at the time that it was perhaps hard that he should have to be punished like the rest. Thinking back, it was probably the fact that he used school library books as missiles that affected my decision.

Thank you for your comments. I am sure you realise that being just is the most necessary and also the most difficult part of this job.

Yours truly
B.Wall
Principal
Okanagan Falls Elementary School”

We trucked home a few boxes of comics for the boys and papers to sort through. I hope I find more gems like these…I’m fairly certain my boys will more than likely be generating a few of this nature themselves over the next few years.