“The
spider has constructed a web of statistical probability, honed to near
perfection by millions of years of evolution.” (Robert J. Hustwit)
Photo by Alfonso Diaz.
The Emergent Universe Alliance (EUA)
www.eualliance.org
www.emergentuniverse.org/emp/
Conveying the Science of Our Emergent Universe to the General Public
Understanding Our Emergent Universe - Developing an Emergent Perspective
We live in an emergent universe in which interactions between the basic building blocks of matter or individuals in our societies give rise to unpredicted and unexpected emergent behavior at every scale: from the big bang to the appearance of life; from high temperature superconductivity to consciousness in an infant; from the development of language to the interplay between individuals, markets, and governments that leads to an economy.
A paradigm shift
Many scientists now recognize that "more is different," and that
understanding the component parts of our emergent universe provides only
the barest framework for understanding how these parts will behave when
brought together. Bulk matter (or societies) behave very differently--
often unexpectedly so-- than do the individual electrons, nuclei, atoms,
molecules (or individuals) that are their fundamental constituents. Thus
in studying our emergent universe many scientists are shifting their primary
focus away from a theory-based reductionist approach [identifying individual
building blocks (electrons, atoms, molecules …. individuals) and attempting
to solve the equations that govern their mutual interaction] to an experiment-based
emergent approach focusing on the collective and cooperative behavior that
emerges when one brings these basic building blocks together. When applying
this emergent perspective, these scientists
- carry out experiments in the laboratory and analyse observational data to identify the regularities that characterize emergent behavior, be it in quantum matter, biology, the cosmos, or ourselves
- search for organizing concepts that might explain such regularities and use these to devise simple models to describe the experimental or observational data.
- ask whether understanding the organizing principles responsible for emergent collective behavior in one area might provide useful insights into the origins of emergent collective behavior in another.
The Emergent Universe Alliance (EUA): www.eualliance.org
The EUA is an innovative science outreach partnership that grew out of a series of ICAM workshops funded by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation. It brings together
- leading scientists eager to communicate to the general public the results of their frontier research on emergent behavior
- leaders in the museum, design, and communications worlds who have the skills to translate complex and often invisible phenomena to the public,
- outstanding teachers eager to develop new educational modules for their students.
The alliance seeks to create public appreciation for what is arguably the most significant scientific challenge of this new century, understanding our Emergent Universe. Although at present the EUA is primarily a group of individuals who have developed this partnership within an ICAM framework, over time ICAM seeks to collaborate with many other leaders in informal science education to transform the EUA into a network of institutions and individuals who share its goal of educating the general public about our Emergent Universe.
Approach
Because people learn in different ways, and different audiences can be
reached through different settings, the EUA will use an integrated, multi-fold
set of strategies to communicate the excitement and challenge of research
on our Emergent Universe to a broad range of learners, ages 12 and up.
