Emergent Properties

Emergent properties are characteristics or behaviors that arise when individual components interact within a system, which cannot be predicted by simply examining those parts alone. For example, water has unique properties, like being liquid at room temperature, that emerge from the interaction of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, but those qualities aren't found in the individual gases. Similarly, in communities, individual actions lead to complex social dynamics that cannot be understood by looking at each person in isolation. Essentially, emergent properties highlight how the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.