Self-organization is a process where some form of global
order or coordination arises out of the local interactions between the components of an initially disordered system. This process is spontaneous: it is not directed or controlled by any agent or subsystem inside or outside of the system; however, the
laws followed by the process and its
initial conditions may have been chosen or
caused by an agent. It is often triggered by random
fluctuations that are amplified by
positive feedback. The resulting organization is wholly decentralized or distributed over all the components of the system. As such it is typically very robust and able to survive and self-repair substantial damage or perturbations.
Self-organization occurs in a variety of physical, chemical, biological, social and cognitive systems. Common examples are
crystallization, the emergence of
convection patterns in a liquid heated from below,
chemical oscillators, the
invisible hand of the market,
swarming in groups of animals, and the way
neural networks learn to recognize complex patterns.