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Emergence is the phenomenon of properties, capabilities and behaviours evident in the whole system that are not exclusively ascribable to any of its parts. Classic examples of emergence include: self awareness from the human brain; the pungent smell of ammonia emerging from two colorless, odorless gases-nitrogen and hydrogen; and so on.

— Derek Hitchins Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering and Management (2003)

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System engineering is the art and science of creating effective systems, using whole system, whole life principles.

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There seem to be two fundamental schisms in thinking: the hard/soft and the open/closed.

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The real world is made from open, interacting systems, behaving chaotically.

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For continued system cohesion, the mean rate of system adaptation must equal or exceed the mean rate of change of environment.

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System engineering is the art and science of creating optimal solution systems to complex issues and problems.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Derek Hitchins (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.