a working assumption that time is discontinuous or quantized, rather than continuous, an assumption imposed by the computer’s clock.

Emergence
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Far from equilibrium, self-organizing systems are the ones that we live in; our planet is essentially a spherical bundle of such systems. The dynamics of plate tectonics is driven by energy generated by radioactive decay in the earth’s core; the complex behaviour of the oceans and atmosphere is driven by the flux of solar energy; and life itself, including human societies, also depends on the continuous input of energy from the sun. Self-organization is a kind of emergence — it is the process by which an organized structure or pattern emerges from the collective dynamics of the individual objects making up the system, whether these are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen organizing themselves into a cyclonic storm or individual people moving together to form an urban settlement. However, as the phrase self-organization suggests, there is no prior specification of the form that is to emerge, and because of the inherent indeterminacy of far-from equilibrium systems, there is always a degree of uncertainty as to exactly what form will appear, as well as where and when it will emerge. These 