Learning Objectives

 Explain the difference in assumptions between an emergent versus reductive approach to

science.

 Explain why the reductivist approach is understood by many to be inadequate as a means of

describing and predicting complex systems.

 Describe how the length scale used to examine a phenomenon can contribute to how you
analyze and understand it.

 Explain why the search for general principles that explain emergent phenomena make them
an active locus of scientific investigation.

 Discuss examples of emergent phenomena and explain why they are classified as
emergent.