Emergent-function realities

The letter by Moorad Alexanian (Physics Today, February 2014, page 12 ) suggests that some realities, such as consciousness, free will, and the mind, are beyond science. Those essentially human phenomena are sometimes called subjective realities. I think it’s better to call them for what they are: emergent-function realities. A car, for example, can be analyzed in great detail, but its main value is the emergent function of transport: move and carry. The horse also provided that function, but the car has had a profound effect on the social behavior of humans. Its emergent-function reality, not seen in its parts, can be deduced from a functional analysis and studied through its effect on human activity.

Many of the realities that we find mysterious, including life itself, are emergent functions. Life emerged from the self-assembly of the first “living” cell. Consciousness and other such subjective realities are emergent functions arising from the complexity of the physical brain and nervous system. Learning just how they arise is of great interest. And they can be studied scientifically by measuring their effect on human behavior. Perhaps the statement that science can handle “everything” is broader than Alexanian believes.