I’ve been reading a lot lately about a concept called emergence which describes the spontaneous creation of complex systems from simple ones. It’s a spectacularly interesting concept that’s becoming more and more relevant as things like search engines and social networks become common place. If you’d like to find out more, there’s an excellent program on the subject as part of the Radio Lab series. You can also check out a book on the subject. Or, for a concrete example, watch this unbelievable video of starlings in flight.