itsejärjestäytymiseen

Itsesarjärjestäytyminen, commonly translated as self-organization, is a process where some form of overall order or coordination arises from the local interactions of the parts that specify a system. This order is not imposed by an external controller. The system is typically decentralized, meaning there is no single entity in charge. Self-organization is a fundamental concept that appears in many scientific fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and sociology.

In nature, self-organization can be observed in phenomena like the formation of snowflakes, the flocking behavior of birds, the swarming of insects, and the development of complex biological structures. In these cases, simple rules followed by individual components lead to emergent, complex patterns at a larger scale. For example, each bird in a flock follows basic rules regarding its neighbors' positions and velocities, resulting in the synchronized movement of the entire flock.

In social and economic systems, self-organization can manifest in the spontaneous emergence of markets, the formation of social norms, and the development of urban structures. The invisible hand of the market, a concept from economics, is a form of self-organization where individual economic actors pursuing their own interests inadvertently create an efficient allocation of resources. Similarly, in the internet, the flow of information and the development of online communities can be seen as examples of self-organizing systems.

Key characteristics of self-organizing systems often include a large number of interacting components, decentralized control, feedback loops, and the emergence of novel properties that are not present in the individual components. Understanding self-organization helps explain how complexity can arise from simplicity without explicit design or direction.