19.3: Why is it impossible to infer the emergent properties of a complex system from the properties of the system components?

The emergent properties are defined as “properties of the system as a whole…[and] cannot be attributed to any specific part of the system. Rather they only emerge once the system components have been integrated” (Sommerville 545).

Because these properties are a result of multiple components and only emerge once functional integration has happened between those components, it is impossible to tell that they will occur from the properties of the individual components alone.  It is rather an issue that “emerges” later from that integration.