I just finished reading Emergence, which I was excited about earlier. I have to say first off that for me, while there was an exciting early flash of recognition -- all my favorite topics! -- Johnson doesn't take it further than a well-grounded introduction, with examples and some speculation regarding digital entertainment and the web, and brief examples of experiments in corporate organization and hints about political organization. Before I'm dismissed as a cranky curmudgeon, I'll say that Johnson does provide an excellent overview to the topic, with many thought-stimulating illustrations and open-ended questions. But for me, I've thought about much of this, and gone a bit further with my own ideas, the brunt of which I saw explored in Wright's Nonzero. [More later...]