TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Nathan S. Jacobs: How do schools of fish swim in harmony?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

How do schools of fish swim in harmony? And how do the tiny clles in your brain give rise to the cmelpox thoughts, memories, and csnosuciensos that are you? Oddly enough, those questions have the same general answer: emergence, or the spontaneous creation of sophisticated behaviors and functions from lgrae groups of simple elements. Like many animals, fish stick together in groups, but that's not just because they enjoy each other's comapny. It's a matter of survival. scolohs of fish exhibit complex sniwarmg behaviors that help them evade hungry predators, while a lone fish is quickly singled out as easy prey. So which brilliant fish leader is the one in cgarhe? Actually, no one is, and everyone is. So what does that mean? While the school of fish is elegantly twisting, turning, and dodging sharks in what looks like deliberate coordination, each individual fish is actually just following two baisc rules that have nothing to do with the shark: one, stay close, but not too close to your neighbor, and two, keep swimmming. As individuals, the fish are fcsoeud on the miaintue of these local interactions, but if enough fish join the group, something remarkable happens. The movement of iiiudvadnl fish is eclipsed by an entirely new entity: the school, which has its own uuqnie set of bviraoehs. The school isn't controlled by any single fish. It simply eremges if you have enough fish following the right set of local rules. It's like an accident that happens over and over again, allowing fish all across the ocean to reliably avoid predation. And it's not just fish. Emergence is a basic property of many complex systems of irtcnntieag elements. For example, the specific way in which mlloiins of grains of sand cildole and tumble over each other almost always produces the same basic pattern of ripples. And when moisture freezes in the atmosphere, the specific binding properties of water molecules reliably produce radiating lattices that form into beautiful snowflakes. What makes emergence so complex is that you can't understand it by simply taking it apart, like the eingne of a car. Taking things apart is a good first step to understanding a complex system. But if you reduce a school of fish to iniiddulvas, it loses the ability to edvae predators, and there's nothing left to sdtuy. And if you ruecde the biran to individual neurons, you're left with something that is notoriously unlalbiree, and nothing like how we think and behave, at least most of the time. Regardless, whatever you're thinking about right now isn't reliant on a single neuron lodged in the corner of your brain. Rather, the mind emerges from the collective activities of many, many neurons. There are billions of nouenrs in the human brain, and trillions of connections between all those neurons. When you turn such a complicated system like that on, it could behave in all sorts of weird ways, but it doesn't. The neurons in our brain follow simple reuls, just like the fish, so that as a group, their activity self-organizes into reliable patterns that let you do things like recognize faces, successfully repeat the same task over and over again, and keep all those silly little habits that everyone likes about you. So, what are the simple rules when it comes to the brain? The basic function of each neuron in the brain is to either excite or inhibit other neurons. If you cnencot a few neurons together into a simple ciuirct, you can generate rhythmic patterns of activity, feedback loops that ramp up or shut down a sngial, coincidence dotrecets, and diobihtisinin, where two inhibitory neurons can actually avacttie another neuron by removing inhibitory brakes. As more and more neurons are connected, increasingly complex patterns of activity emerge from the network. Soon, so many neurons are interacting in so many different ways at once that the system becomes chaotic. The trajectory of the network's activity cannot be eilsay explained by the smlpie local circuits described eralier. And yet, from this chaos, patterns can emerge, and then emerge again and again in a rupderbolice manner. At some point, these emergent patterns of activity become sufficiently complex, and curious to begin studying their own biological origins, not to mention emergence. And what we found in emergent pnemnheoa at vastly different scleas is that same rlkaemrbae characteristic as the fish displayed: That ecremgene doesn't require someone or something to be in charge. If the right rules are in place, and some basic conditions are met, a complex system will fall into the same habits over and over again, trninug chaos into order. That's true in the molecular pandemonium that lets your cells function, the tangled thicket of neurons that produces your thoughts and iidetnty, your nrotwek of friends and family, all the way up to the structures and economies of our cities across the planet.

Open Cloze

How do schools of fish swim in harmony? And how do the tiny _____ in your brain give rise to the _______ thoughts, memories, and _____________ that are you? Oddly enough, those questions have the same general answer: emergence, or the spontaneous creation of sophisticated behaviors and functions from _____ groups of simple elements. Like many animals, fish stick together in groups, but that's not just because they enjoy each other's _______. It's a matter of survival. _______ of fish exhibit complex ________ behaviors that help them evade hungry predators, while a lone fish is quickly singled out as easy prey. So which brilliant fish leader is the one in ______? Actually, no one is, and everyone is. So what does that mean? While the school of fish is elegantly twisting, turning, and dodging sharks in what looks like deliberate coordination, each individual fish is actually just following two _____ rules that have nothing to do with the shark: one, stay close, but not too close to your neighbor, and two, keep swimmming. As individuals, the fish are _______ on the ________ of these local interactions, but if enough fish join the group, something remarkable happens. The movement of __________ fish is eclipsed by an entirely new entity: the school, which has its own ______ set of _________. The school isn't controlled by any single fish. It simply _______ if you have enough fish following the right set of local rules. It's like an accident that happens over and over again, allowing fish all across the ocean to reliably avoid predation. And it's not just fish. Emergence is a basic property of many complex systems of ___________ elements. For example, the specific way in which ________ of grains of sand _______ and tumble over each other almost always produces the same basic pattern of ripples. And when moisture freezes in the atmosphere, the specific binding properties of water molecules reliably produce radiating lattices that form into beautiful snowflakes. What makes emergence so complex is that you can't understand it by simply taking it apart, like the ______ of a car. Taking things apart is a good first step to understanding a complex system. But if you reduce a school of fish to ___________, it loses the ability to _____ predators, and there's nothing left to _____. And if you ______ the _____ to individual neurons, you're left with something that is notoriously __________, and nothing like how we think and behave, at least most of the time. Regardless, whatever you're thinking about right now isn't reliant on a single neuron lodged in the corner of your brain. Rather, the mind emerges from the collective activities of many, many neurons. There are billions of _______ in the human brain, and trillions of connections between all those neurons. When you turn such a complicated system like that on, it could behave in all sorts of weird ways, but it doesn't. The neurons in our brain follow simple _____, just like the fish, so that as a group, their activity self-organizes into reliable patterns that let you do things like recognize faces, successfully repeat the same task over and over again, and keep all those silly little habits that everyone likes about you. So, what are the simple rules when it comes to the brain? The basic function of each neuron in the brain is to either excite or inhibit other neurons. If you _______ a few neurons together into a simple _______, you can generate rhythmic patterns of activity, feedback loops that ramp up or shut down a ______, coincidence _________, and _____________, where two inhibitory neurons can actually ________ another neuron by removing inhibitory brakes. As more and more neurons are connected, increasingly complex patterns of activity emerge from the network. Soon, so many neurons are interacting in so many different ways at once that the system becomes chaotic. The trajectory of the network's activity cannot be ______ explained by the ______ local circuits described _______. And yet, from this chaos, patterns can emerge, and then emerge again and again in a ____________ manner. At some point, these emergent patterns of activity become sufficiently complex, and curious to begin studying their own biological origins, not to mention emergence. And what we found in emergent _________ at vastly different ______ is that same __________ characteristic as the fish displayed: That _________ doesn't require someone or something to be in charge. If the right rules are in place, and some basic conditions are met, a complex system will fall into the same habits over and over again, _______ chaos into order. That's true in the molecular pandemonium that lets your cells function, the tangled thicket of neurons that produces your thoughts and ________, your _______ of friends and family, all the way up to the structures and economies of our cities across the planet.

Solution

individuals
neurons
identity
activate
brain
schools
behaviors
study
consciousness
earlier
basic
evade
disinhibition
rules
minutiae
network
focused
unreliable
interacting
circuit
engine
turning
easily
company
cells
swarming
scales
large
complex
reproducible
emerges
detectors
charge
emergence
simple
unique
connect
phenomena
collide
remarkable
reduce
millions
individual
signal

Original Text

How do schools of fish swim in harmony? And how do the tiny cells in your brain give rise to the complex thoughts, memories, and consciousness that are you? Oddly enough, those questions have the same general answer: emergence, or the spontaneous creation of sophisticated behaviors and functions from large groups of simple elements. Like many animals, fish stick together in groups, but that's not just because they enjoy each other's company. It's a matter of survival. Schools of fish exhibit complex swarming behaviors that help them evade hungry predators, while a lone fish is quickly singled out as easy prey. So which brilliant fish leader is the one in charge? Actually, no one is, and everyone is. So what does that mean? While the school of fish is elegantly twisting, turning, and dodging sharks in what looks like deliberate coordination, each individual fish is actually just following two basic rules that have nothing to do with the shark: one, stay close, but not too close to your neighbor, and two, keep swimmming. As individuals, the fish are focused on the minutiae of these local interactions, but if enough fish join the group, something remarkable happens. The movement of individual fish is eclipsed by an entirely new entity: the school, which has its own unique set of behaviors. The school isn't controlled by any single fish. It simply emerges if you have enough fish following the right set of local rules. It's like an accident that happens over and over again, allowing fish all across the ocean to reliably avoid predation. And it's not just fish. Emergence is a basic property of many complex systems of interacting elements. For example, the specific way in which millions of grains of sand collide and tumble over each other almost always produces the same basic pattern of ripples. And when moisture freezes in the atmosphere, the specific binding properties of water molecules reliably produce radiating lattices that form into beautiful snowflakes. What makes emergence so complex is that you can't understand it by simply taking it apart, like the engine of a car. Taking things apart is a good first step to understanding a complex system. But if you reduce a school of fish to individuals, it loses the ability to evade predators, and there's nothing left to study. And if you reduce the brain to individual neurons, you're left with something that is notoriously unreliable, and nothing like how we think and behave, at least most of the time. Regardless, whatever you're thinking about right now isn't reliant on a single neuron lodged in the corner of your brain. Rather, the mind emerges from the collective activities of many, many neurons. There are billions of neurons in the human brain, and trillions of connections between all those neurons. When you turn such a complicated system like that on, it could behave in all sorts of weird ways, but it doesn't. The neurons in our brain follow simple rules, just like the fish, so that as a group, their activity self-organizes into reliable patterns that let you do things like recognize faces, successfully repeat the same task over and over again, and keep all those silly little habits that everyone likes about you. So, what are the simple rules when it comes to the brain? The basic function of each neuron in the brain is to either excite or inhibit other neurons. If you connect a few neurons together into a simple circuit, you can generate rhythmic patterns of activity, feedback loops that ramp up or shut down a signal, coincidence detectors, and disinhibition, where two inhibitory neurons can actually activate another neuron by removing inhibitory brakes. As more and more neurons are connected, increasingly complex patterns of activity emerge from the network. Soon, so many neurons are interacting in so many different ways at once that the system becomes chaotic. The trajectory of the network's activity cannot be easily explained by the simple local circuits described earlier. And yet, from this chaos, patterns can emerge, and then emerge again and again in a reproducible manner. At some point, these emergent patterns of activity become sufficiently complex, and curious to begin studying their own biological origins, not to mention emergence. And what we found in emergent phenomena at vastly different scales is that same remarkable characteristic as the fish displayed: That emergence doesn't require someone or something to be in charge. If the right rules are in place, and some basic conditions are met, a complex system will fall into the same habits over and over again, turning chaos into order. That's true in the molecular pandemonium that lets your cells function, the tangled thicket of neurons that produces your thoughts and identity, your network of friends and family, all the way up to the structures and economies of our cities across the planet.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
individual fish	2
complex system	2

Important Words

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