How can a cluster form if no rule says to form a cluster?

Conditions

• The example depends on agents following simple individual rules.
• The exact rule set of the earlier game is outside this clip.

Reasoning, step by step

1. Identify the observed global pattern: a tight cluster formed.
2. Check whether the pattern was explicitly prescribed by the rules: it was not.
3. Attribute the pattern to many agents each following their own simple local rule.
4. Conclude that the cluster is an emergent phenomenon.

Example

The narrator refers back to a game example and says the tight cluster was not in the rules and nobody was told to form a cluster. The behavior emerged from everyone following their own simple little rule.

Common misconceptions

• If a cluster appears, some rule must have directly commanded cluster formation.
• Coordinated group behavior requires a leader or central planner.

Watch the explanation

Explore next

• What does the video mean by emergence?
• Why does the video say growing from simple individuals can explain a complex pattern?