There are two schools of thought on emergence. In weak emergence, the new properties arise as a result of the interactions at an…

“There are two schools of thought on emergence. In weak emergence, the new properties arise as a result of the interactions at an elemental level and the emergent property is reducible to its individual components, that is, you can figure out the steps from one level to the next, which would be the deterministic view. Whereas, in strong emergence, the new property is irreducible, is more than the sum of its parts, and because of the amplification of random events, the laws cannot be predicted by an underlying fundamental theory or from an understanding of the laws of another level of organization.”

–Gazzaniga, Michael S.Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain. New York: Ecco, 2011. (viacarvalhais)