Editing Self-organization (section)

== Overview ==
Self-organization is realized<ref name="G&P 1971">Glansdorff, P., Prigogine, I. (1971). [https://books.google.com/books?id=vf9QAAAAMAAJ ''Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability and Fluctuations''], London: Wiley-Interscience {{ISBN|0-471-30280-5}}</ref> in the [[Extremal principles in non-equilibrium thermodynamics|physics of non-equilibrium processes]], and in [[chemical reaction]]s, where it is often characterized as [[self-assembly]]. The concept has proven useful in biology, from the molecular to the [[ecosystem]] level.<ref name=":0">Compare: {{cite book| last1=Camazine| first1=Scott| title=Self-organization in Biological Systems| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zMgyNN6Ufj0C |series= Princeton studies in complexity| edition= reprint| publisher=Princeton University Press| publication-date=2003| isbn=978-0-691-11624-2| access-date= 2016-04-05| year=2003}}</ref> Cited examples of self-organizing behavior also appear in the literature of many other disciplines, both in the [[natural sciences]] and in the [[social sciences]] (such as [[economics]] or [[anthropology]]). Self-organization has also been observed in mathematical systems such as  [[cellular automaton|cellular automata]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book| last1=Ilachinski| first1=Andrew| title= Cellular Automata: A Discrete Universe| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Hx2lx_pEF8C| publisher= World Scientific| publication-date=2001| page=247| isbn= 978-981-238-183-5| quote= We have already seen ample evidence for what is arguably the single most impressive general property of CA, namely their capacity for self-organization| year=2001}}</ref> Self-organization is an example of the related concept of [[emergence]].<ref>{{cite book |author= Feltz, Bernard |display-authors= etal |date= 2006 |title= Self-organization and Emergence in Life Sciences |isbn=978-1-4020-3916-4 |page=1|publisher= Springer }}</ref>

Self-organization relies on four basic ingredients:<ref>{{cite book |author1=Bonabeau, Eric |author2= Dorigo, Marco |author3= Theraulaz, Guy |date= 1999 |title= Swarm intelligence: from natural to artificial systems |isbn= 978-0-19-513159-8|publisher= OUP|pages= 9–11|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PvTDhzqMr7cC}}</ref>
# strong dynamical non-linearity, often (though not necessarily) involving  [[Positive feedback|positive]] and [[negative feedback]]
# balance of exploitation and exploration
# multiple interactions among components 
# availability of energy (to overcome the natural tendency toward [[entropy]], or loss of free energy)