Hofstadter, Dennett - The Mind's I

Prelude . . . Ant Fugue 191ILLUSTRATION BY THE AUTHOR.continually shrinking as they proceed from left to right. (Returns it to the Tortoise. )TORTOISE: I know the rest of you won't believe this, but in fact this picture consists of theword "REDUCTIONISM" written once, with the letters continually growing as they proceedfrom left to right.ACHILLES: At last-I heard the new twist on the theme this time! I am so glad that youpointed it out to me, Mr. Tortoise. Finally, I think I am beginning to grasp the art of listeningto fugues..ReflectionsIs a soul greater than the hum of its parts? The participants in the preceding dialogue seem tohave divergent views on this question. What is certain and agreed upon, however, is that thecollective behavior of a system of individuals can have many surprising properties.Many people, on reading this dialogue, are reminded of the seemingly purposive,selfish, survival-oriented behavior of countries that emerges somehow from the habits andinstitutions of their citizens: their educational system, legal structure, religions, resources,style of consumption and level of expectations, and so on. When a tight organization formsfrom distinct individuals-particularly when contributions to the organization are not traceableto specific individuals in the lower level we tend to see it as a higher-level individual andoften speak of it in