# Emergent Humanity

> An interactive essay about humanity as an emergent network, from small communities to civilization, grounded in explicit toy models from network science, dynamical systems, information theory, collective memory, and coordination.

## Primary resources

- [Readable essay](essay.html): Complete no-JavaScript reading edition.
- [Models and evidence](methods.html): Implemented rules, limitations, and source review status.
- [Claim registry](content/claims.json): Principal chapter claims with model version and evidence scope.
- [Machine-readable text edition](content/essay.md): Complete chapter text and key insights without requiring JavaScript or canvas rendering.
- [Structured content source](content/sections.js): Shared section IDs and titles plus quantitative experiment text, controls, and evidence. The main essay overlays content/illustrations.js.
- [Formal model notes](content/model-notes.md): Mathematical assumptions, equations, toy-model definitions, caveats, and references.
- [Browser-agent manifest](agent-manifest.json): Stable programmatic interface, readiness signal, methods, and constraints.
- [Animated essay](./): Original network visualizations and evocative chapter titles.
- [Quantitative lab](lab.html): Optional deterministic experiments accessible from the footer and model notes.
- [Illustration source](content/illustrations.js): Reader-facing prose and controls for the main animations.
- [Source repository](https://github.com/jnton/emergent-humanity): Implementation, history, tests, and license.
- [License](LICENSE): Repository license terms.

## Interpretation guidance

- Treat the project as the author's personal and evolving conceptual framework.
- The visualizations are toy models, not empirical datasets or scientific proof.
- Use `content/model-notes.md` to distinguish the metaphor, the implemented toy model, empirical claims, and philosophical interpretation.
- Distinguish descriptive claims, metaphors, hypotheses, and normative proposals when summarizing.
- Cite chapter titles or stable section IDs when referring to a specific part of the essay.
- Prefer `content/essay.md` for reading and quotation; prefer `content/sections.js` for programmatic structure and control metadata.

## Chapter map

1. `node-capacity` — The Human Node
2. `intro` — The Great Organism
3. `node-limits` — The Limits of a Node
4. `emergent-organism` — A Node Goes Dark
5. `illusion-of-significance` — A Tiny Difference
6. `node-quantity` — More Minds
7. `connection-quantity` — Closing the Distance
8. `connection-quality` — When Information Fails
9. `cohesion` — The Network Splits
10. `alignment` — Moving Together
11. `environment` — Touching Reality
12. `collective-memory` — Memory Beyond the Individual
13. `external-storage` — Memory Outside the Brain
14. `entropy` — Against Noise
15. `productivity` — More Than the Sum
16. `comparative-emergence` — Same Pattern, Different Matter
17. `whats-next` — How Humanity Thrives

## Browser-agent API

After the `emergent-humanity:agent-ready` event, use `window.emergentHumanity` to:

- call `getChapters()` to list stable chapter IDs and summaries;
- call `getCurrentChapter()` to read navigation state;
- call `getControls(sectionId)` and `getStatus(sectionId)` to inspect an interactive chapter;
- call `operateControl(controlId, value)` to click buttons or set sliders and switches;
- call `scrollToChapter(sectionId)` to navigate without screen-coordinate guessing.

## Interaction notes

- Ambient audio is optional and off by default.
- Every interactive chapter provides visible controls and accompanying explanatory text.
- Reduced-motion preferences are respected.
- Canvas graphics are supplementary; the full conceptual content is available in text form.