How do societies emerge?

The emergence of societies can be understood through the lens of emergent complexity, as discussed by Robert M. Sapolsky and Sam Harris on the Making Sense Podcast. They explain that complex systems, such as societies, arise from simple components interacting according to basic rules. For instance, individual ants follow simple algorithms, yet their collective behavior results in the sophisticated structure of ant colonies.

This complexity at the societal level is not about the simple units (ants or neurons) becoming more sophisticated themselves, but rather how their interactions lead to emergent properties at the higher level—in this case, society. Essentially, societies emerge when basic elements (like humans or ants) interact according to simple rules, leading to complex and organized structures that possess properties not found at the individual level 1.