# Self-Organization > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this concept within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Complex Systems / Emergence **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Self-organization is the emergence of ordered collective structure from local interactions without a central coordinator. ## Machine-Evolution Context Crystals, attractors and cellular-automaton patterns can self-organize without reproducing. The article separates this process from Darwinian evolution while recognizing that self-organization can create the structures on which evolution later acts. ## Continuity and Evidence Boundary Emergence is not evidence of intention or experience. Governance should distinguish unplanned organization from autonomous agency. ## Relationships [[wiki/Complexity|Complexity]], [[wiki/Attractor|Attractor]], [[wiki/Cellular Automata|Cellular Automata]], [[wiki/Darwinian Evolution|Darwinian Evolution]] ## Sources / Provenance - Stuart Kauffman, _The Origins of Order_; complex-systems literature.