Lenia Lanterns, Butterflies, and the Tao Te Ching: Lenia彩灯，蝴蝶与道德经

Chapter 1: Simple Rules, Self-Organization, and Emergence 第一章：简单规则、自组织与涌现

I suspect many of you might not be familiar with Lenia, so let’s start by discussing what it actually is.

相信很多人不知道 Lenia，那就让我们先聊聊 Lenia 到底是什么。

Imagine a vast grid covered in numbers, where every cell is inhabited by a tiny person wearing a lightbulb on their head. We give each person a single, persistent instruction:

想象你面前有一张巨大的、铺满数字的网格，每一个格子里住着一个头戴灯泡的小人。然后我们告诉每一个小人，按照下面这个规则一直操作：

“Observe what your neighbors are doing, calculate a weighted average, and based on that result, decide whether to turn your lightbulb a bit brighter or a bit dimmer in the next moment.”

“看看我周围的一圈邻居都在干什么，算一个加权平均值，然后根据这个结果，决定我下一刻是把头上的灯泡调得更亮一点，还是更暗一点。”

It is such a simple action. Yet, when repeated countless times across a grid of hundreds of thousands of pixels, the entire grid transforms into an electronic petri dish. You begin to see various bizarre “soft-bodied organisms” swimming, rotating, morphing, and even consuming one another.

就是这么一个简单的动作，在一个几十万像素的网格上重复无数次后，你就会看到整个网格变成了一个电子培养皿，里面有各种奇形怪状的“软体动物”在游动、旋转、变形，甚至还会互相吞噬。

In the realm of computer science, this rule has a name: Convolution.

这个规则，在计算机领域，有个名字叫“卷积”。

If we were to tweak the rules—instead of dimming or brightening, we simply switched the lights on or off—and repeated that process infinitely, we would arrive at Lenia’s predecessor: the classic Cellular Automaton.

如果我们更改一下规则，不是再亮一点或者暗一点，而是直接干脆地开灯或者关灯。这样经过无数次重复之后，就变成了 Lenia 的前身，那个经典的“元胞自动机”。

And if we applied these same rules but scaled the grid to an immense size, allowing each “person” to have thousands of neighbors, then congratulations—you have just invented GPT. It no longer looks like a “soft-bodied organism,” but rather an animal of seemingly higher intelligence.

如果我们使用的还是同样的规则，但是让网格变得无比巨大，让每个小人的邻居也变得成千上万。恭喜你，你刚刚发明了 GPT——一个不再像“软体动物”，而是看起来“更有智慧的动物”。

What is the most miraculous part of all this?

这事儿最神奇的地方在哪儿呢？

It is the phenomenon of “something from nothing.” If you look at any single individual, they are remarkably simple—only capable of adjusting a lightbulb based on their neighbors. They don’t understand life, they don’t understand logic, and they certainly don’t understand how to write poetry. Yet, when billions of individuals perform this action simultaneously, magic happens: The collective suddenly possesses capabilities that the individuals completely lack.

在于“无中生有”。如果你单看某一个小人，它笨得要命，只会盯着邻居调灯泡。它不懂什么是生命，不懂什么是逻辑，更不懂什么是写诗。但当几十亿个小人聚在一起，同时做这个动作时，神奇的事情发生了：整体突然拥有了个体完全不具备的能力。

This is what we call “Emergence.”

这就是所谓的“涌现”。

Below are some philosophical reflections on how emergence arises within complex systems.

下面是一些对于复杂系统产生涌现的一些哲学思考。

First, do not over-rely on “Deconstruction.” 第一，别太迷信“拆解”。

Those of us from traditional STEM backgrounds are well-versed in analytical thinking and reductionism. Our default mode is to “break things down.” Take, for instance, the “Pyramid Principle” favored by consulting firms: dissecting a company into strategy, finance, and operations to create beautiful slide decks. This mindset assumes that if every component is fixed, the machine will run faster.

传统理工背景教育出来的人，对于分析主义和还原论那一套非常熟练，我们最习惯的思维就是“拆”。比如咨询公司最爱用的金字塔原理，把一家公司拆成战略、财务、运营，画成漂亮的 PPT。这种思维假设只要把每个零件都修好了，机器就能转得快。

However, if you dissect that swimming “organism,” you are left with nothing but a pile of lightbulbs that only know how to adjust brightness. No matter how deeply you study the lightbulbs, you will never understand why the organism swims. You fall into a flawed understanding of higher-level laws because the secret isn’t in the lightbulbs—it’s in the “relationships” between them.

把那个会游动的“软体动物”拆开，只剩下一堆只会调亮度的灯泡。研究灯泡研究得再透，也搞不懂那个动物为什么会游，陷入对高层级的规律的错误理解。因为秘密不在灯泡里，而在灯泡和灯泡的“关系”里。

“The Tao is forever nameless and uncarved.”

“道常无名，朴。”

Second, Downward Causation: Structure Governs Matter. 第二，向下因果，结构统治物质。

In complex systems, it is often the macro-structure that “enslaves” the micro-individuals. Consider a “ghost traffic jam” on a highway. There’s no accident ahead, yet the flow of cars suddenly grinds to a halt. In that moment, no matter how skilled a driver you are, when that “wave” reaches you, you must hit the brakes. In such a system, individual will gives way to the will of the structure. Thus, focusing on the right “Momentum” (Shi) and “Atmosphere” is often more vital than focusing on specific individuals.

在复杂系统里，往往是宏观的结构在“奴役”微观的个体。 高速公路上的“幽灵堵车”。明明前面没事故，车流却突然停滞。这时候，无论你车技多好，当那个波传到你这儿时，你都得踩刹车。 在这个系统里，是个人的意志让位于结构的意志。所以关注合理的“势”和“氛围”，往往比关注具体的个体更重要。

Third, No Effort is Ever Wasted; There are No Shortcuts. 第三，功不唐捐，没有捷径。

If you want to know what pattern will appear on the screen after 10,000 steps of these lightbulb-people evolving, there is no formula that can calculate it directly. The only way is to faithfully let them run for 9,999 steps. This shatters the illusion of “predicting the future.” The world may essentially be a massive, running program. Being inside it, we cannot stand outside the system to predict it. The so-called “Tao” is that most fundamental “lightbulb-adjustment rule.” Want results? There are no shortcuts. One must experience, evolve, and calculate every single step. The Tao exists in the mundane—in the “waste and the weeds”—and there is no skipping the process to reach the endgame.

如果想知道这一大堆灯泡小人演化到第 10,000 步时，屏幕上会出现什么图案，没有任何公式可以直接算出来。 唯一的办法，就是老老实实地让它们运行 9,999 步。 这打破了对“预测未来”的幻想。世界可能本质上就是一个正在运行的大程序，我们身在其中，我们无法站在系统之外去预测系统，因为我们就在系统之中。所谓的“道”，就是那个最基础的“调灯泡规则”。 想要结果？没有捷径可走。必须去经历，去演化，去计算每一个步骤。道在屎溺，也在万物，无法跳过过程直达终局。

Fourth, “Know the White, Keep to the Black”: Binary is Devoid of Wisdom. 第四，“知白守黑”，二元是没有智慧的。

A binary system that only knows “on” and “off” cannot produce intelligence; no matter how many grids or neighbors you add, it remains nothing more than a larger black-and-white picture. In thermodynamics and information theory, a completely ordered system is dead (low entropy), while a completely chaotic system is useless (high entropy). Where are life and intelligence born? They emerge from the “Gray Area.”

只会开灯和关灯的二元是无法产生智慧的，就算给再多网格和邻居，最终也只是一副更大的黑白画而已。在热力学和信息论中，一个完全有序的系统是僵死的（低熵），一个完全混乱的系统是无用的（高熵）。生命和智能生于哪里？产生于“灰度”。

Chapter 2: Butterflies—Unpredictability and Attractors 第二章：蝴蝶——不可预测性与吸引子

I believe many of us share this feeling: The best-laid plans often fail to keep pace with change.

相信很多人都有这种感觉：计划赶不上变化。

You calculate every step, account for every variable, and yet things still veer off course. Why?

你明明算好了每一步，考虑了所有因素，可事情还是跑偏了。为什么？

Imagine a slope. You place two marbles at the top, less than a millimeter apart. You release them, and they begin their descent side by side. But seconds later, one strikes a pebble on the left, while the other slides into a groove on the right. From that point on, they head toward entirely different horizons.

想象你面前有一个斜坡，两颗弹珠同时放在顶端，相距不到一毫米。你松手，它们一起滚下，开始还并肩而行。但几秒后，一颗撞上了左边的石头，另一颗滑进了右边的凹槽。从此，它们去向完全不同的远方。

The most profound realization here?

这事儿最神奇的地方在哪儿呢？

It is that “a tiny deviation at the start leads to a vast difference at the end.” This isn’t because your observation wasn’t keen enough, nor because the marbles were “disobedient.” It is because the very structure of the system dictates it: minuscule variances are amplified until they spiral into total divergence. The stock market, the weather, human relationships—they all follow this same logic. Our inability to precisely predict the future isn’t due to a lack of data or slow computers; it’s because the world was designed this way. This is the “indeterminacy” of chaotic systems.

在于”失之毫厘”真的能”差之千里”。不是因为你观察不够仔细，也不是因为弹珠不听话，而是因为系统的结构就是这样：微小的差异会被不断放大，直到完全失控。股市、天气、人际关系，背后都是同一个逻辑。我们无法精确预测未来，不是因为数据不够多、电脑不够快，而是因为世界本来就这么设计的。这就是混沌系统的”测不准”。

Yet, interestingly, if you were to plot these seemingly chaotic trajectories on a single sheet of paper, you would discover a startling secret: they don’t just fly off in every direction. Instead, they are confined within a fixed shape—resembling a butterfly with its wings outspread.

但有意思的是，如果你把这些看似混乱的轨迹全部画在一张纸上，你会发现一个惊人的秘密：它们并不是到处乱飞，而是被圈在一个固定的形状里——像一只展翅的蝴蝶。

This is the “Strange Attractor.” You cannot guess where the system will fly within the butterfly’s wings in the next second, but you can be certain it will never escape their boundaries.

这就是”奇怪吸引子”。你猜不到下一秒它会飞到蝴蝶的哪个位置，但你笃定它永远不会飞出那对翅膀的边界。

This brings us to an even more counter-intuitive tool: Phase Space.

这时候就需要提到一个更反直觉的工具——相空间。

In this space, time is no longer the horizontal axis; it becomes just another dimension. You can “look down” upon all possible states and see the grand structure hidden behind the flow of time. When you escape the prison of linear time, you realize that those seemingly chaotic movements are actually guided by an invisible force, gliding along specific orbits.

在这个空间里，时间不再是横轴，而是变成了另一个维度。你可以”俯视”所有可能的状态，看到隐藏在时间流背后的大结构。当你跳出时间的牢笼，你会发现那些看似混乱的运动，其实都被某种无形的力量牵引着，沿着特定的轨道滑行。

That famous butterfly—the Lorenz Attractor—unfolds its two symmetrical wings. The system’s state spirals within them, never repeating, yet never escaping. Beneath the surface of chaos lies a stable skeleton.

那只著名的蝴蝶——洛伦兹吸引子——两片翅膀对称展开，系统的状态就在其中盘旋，永不重复，却也永不逃逸。混乱的表面下，藏着稳定的骨架。

Perhaps what we call “Destiny” (Ming) is simply an intuitive grasp of this deep structure.

所谓”命”，或许正是对这种深层结构的直觉把握。

On Uncertainty 关于不确定性

Precise models may capture certain patterns, but they cannot eliminate fundamental uncertainty. Detailed planning provides a sense of security, but it may not be enough to handle true complexity. Consider another perspective: rather than obsessing over “what will happen,” it is better to remain curious about “how to respond.” What Nassim Taleb calls Antifragility is perhaps finding a way to benefit from volatility, rather than blindly pursuing stability.

精密模型或许能捕捉某些规律，但无法消除根本的不确定性。详尽规划提供安全感，却未必能应对真实的复杂情境。换个角度想：与其执着于”会发生什么”，不如保持对”如何应对”的好奇。塔勒布所说的反脆弱，或许就是找到从波动中受益的方式，而非一味追求平稳。

“A whirlwind does not last all morning; a downpour does not last all day.”

“飘风不终朝，骤雨不终日。“

On Attractors and Propensity (Shi) 关于吸引子与势

Sometimes I feel that predicting specific events is like trying to catch the wind. It is perhaps more interesting to observe the structure of the system itself—in which direction does it tend to evolve? A gardener does not command a flower when to bloom; they merely cultivate the environment. Boundary conditions, feedback loops, initial states—these invisible factors quietly guide the system’s trajectory.

有时候觉得，预测具体事件就像是试图抓住风。更有趣的可能是观察系统本身的结构——它倾向于往哪个方向演化？园丁并不指挥花朵何时绽放，只是营造环境。边界条件、反馈回路、初始状态，这些看似无形的因素，悄悄引导着系统的走向。

In a team, one can feel this Propensity (Shi). When information flows freely and decision-making is decentralized to those closest to the situation, things tend to find their own way. This is achieved not by controlling every individual, but by adjusting the structure, making “proactive creation” the more natural path.

在团队里也能感受到这种”势”。当信息能自由流动，决策权下沉到最了解情况的人手中，事情往往会自己找到出路。不是通过控制每个人，而是通过调整结构，让”主动创造”成为更自然的选择。

On a deeper level, Shi is the soil of the attractor. A consistently open atmosphere, a gradually built trust mechanism, and a repeatedly reinforced consensus on values—these seemingly intangible forces are actually quietly altering the topology of the system, making “emergence” a higher-probability event. To create Shi is to create a space of possibilities; to maintain Shi is to allow good attractors to exist stably.

更深一层想，“势”本身就是吸引子的土壤。持续营造的开放氛围、逐步建立的信任机制、反复强化的价值共识——这些看似无形的力量，其实在悄然改变系统的拓扑结构，让”涌现”成为更大概率的事件。创造势，就是创造可能性空间；维护势，就是让好的吸引子稳定存在。

This may explain why the same decision yields vastly different results in different environments. It isn’t that the decision itself changed, but that the Shi was different, pulling the system toward a different attractor.

这或许解释了为什么同样的决策在不同环境中效果迥异。不是决策本身变了，而是所处的势不同，系统被牵引向不同的吸引子。

On Spacetime and Evolution 关于时空与演化

We are both observers and part of the system. This position brings limitations, but also a unique perspective—perceiving through action, learning through feedback. Different eras have different “climates,” and there are no universal answers. Maintaining sensitivity to the present context is perhaps more interesting than clinging to a fixed pattern.

我们既是观察者，也是系统的一部分。这种位置带来局限，也带来独特的视角——在行动中感知，在反馈中学习。不同的时代有不同的”气候”，没有放之四海而皆准的答案。保持对当下情境的敏感，或许比执着于某种固定模式更有意思。

“The Tao never acts, yet nothing is left undone.”

“道常无为而无不为。”

Chapter 3: The Tao that Can Be Told 第三章：道可道

The previous chapters discussed much of the “how-to,” but we must eventually return to the fundamental question: What is truly behind all of this?

前两章谈了很多”怎么做”，但回到最根本的问题：这一切背后究竟是什么？

When countless simple rules run on a grid, and when trajectories trace the wings of a butterfly in phase space, there is something that makes everything function yet remains unseen. Laozi called this the “Tao.”

当无数简单的规则在网格上运行，当轨迹在相空间里画出蝴蝶的翅膀，那个让一切运转却又不被看见的东西，老子称之为”道”。

The Tao and Attractors 道与吸引子

“The Tao as an entity is vague and elusive. Elusive and vague, yet within it is an image.”

“道之为物，惟恍惟惚。惚兮恍兮，其中有象。”

This sentence is a perfect description of a Strange Attractor in phase space. You cannot precisely predict the system’s exact position on the attractor at any given second—it is elusive, nebulous, and intangible. Yet, you clearly see the “image” (Xiang) of its existence: the trajectory forever orbits those “wings,” never escaping. The Tao is not a physical entity; it is invisible, yet it determines the trajectory of all things. It is indescribable, yet nothing escapes its laws.

这句话用来描述相空间里的奇怪吸引子再贴切不过。你无法准确预测系统下一秒在吸引子上的确切位置——它恍惚、飘渺、不可捉摸。但你又分明看见它存在的”象”：轨迹永远绕着那对翅膀旋转，从不逃逸。道不是实体，它是看不见的，但它决定了万物运行的轨迹。不可名状，却万物都逃不出它的法则。

“There is a thing confusedly formed, born before heaven and earth. Silent and void, it stands alone and does not change; it revolves everywhere and never tires.”

“有物混成，先天地生。寂兮寥兮，独立而不改，周行而不殆。”

This speaks to the deep structure of a system. No matter how chaotic the surface appears, that “independent and unchanging” core is always present. What we call “Destiny,” “Propensity,” or “Laws” are perhaps just our primitive perceptions of this “tireless, revolving” trajectory.

这说的或许就是系统的深层结构。无论表象如何混乱，那个”独立而不改”的内核始终在场。我们所说的”命”，所说的”势”，所说的”规律”，或许都是对这个”周行而不殆”的轨迹的朴素感知。

Wu Wei and Self-Organization 无为与自组织

“I take no action, and the people transform themselves; I love stillness, and the people correct themselves.”

“我无为，而民自化；我好静，而民自正。”

When I first encountered the concept of Self-Organization, this was the first quote that came to mind. A flock of birds has no commander, yet they fly in perfect formation. A market has no central planner, yet it spontaneously generates prices. The most efficient systems are distributed; individuals need only follow simple local rules, and macro-order will naturally “emerge.”

读到”自组织”这个概念时，首先想到的就是这句话。鸟群没有指挥官，却能飞出完美的队形；市场没有中央计划者，却能自发形成价格。最高效的系统是分布式的，个体只需遵循简单的局部规则，宏观秩序就会自然”涌现”。

“He who acts, fails; he who grasps, loses.”

“为者败之，执者失之。”

Forced control often yields the opposite of the intended result. A gardener does not control the timing of a flower’s bloom; they merely cultivate the environment. This “Wu Wei” (Non-action) is not passive idleness, but a profound respect for the mechanism of emergence. It is an acknowledgment that the system possesses inherent vitality. The role of a controller is not that of a driver, but of a maintainer of environmental parameters, allowing order to grow naturally.

强行控制往往适得其反。园丁不控制花开的时间，他只是营造环境。这种”无为”不是消极的不作为，而是对”涌现机制”的尊重——承认系统具有内在的生命力，控制者的角色不是驾驶员，而是维护环境参数，让秩序自然生长。

Reversion is the Motion of the Tao 反者道之动

“Reversion is the motion of the Tao; weakness is the use of the Tao.”

“反者道之动，弱者道之用。”

Things that develop to their extreme inevitably move toward their opposite—this is what system science calls a Bifurcation at a critical point. Pure pursuit of growth (positive feedback) eventually leads to collapse. To survive, a system must oscillate between positive and negative feedback. “Extreme things must turn around” is not a moral lecture; it is the intrinsic dynamics of complex systems.

事物发展到极点必然走向反面，这是系统在临界点发生的”分岔”。单纯追求增长（正反馈）最终会导致崩溃，系统为了维持生存，必须在正负反馈之间震荡。物极必反不是道德训诫，而是复杂系统的内在动力学。

“Knowing when to be content, one avoids disgrace; knowing when to stop, one avoids danger.”

“知足不辱，知止不殆。”

Knowing when to converge and when to let go is perhaps an intuitive grasp of Negative Feedback.

知道何时该收敛，何时该放手，或许就是对”负反馈”的直觉把握。

Knowing the White, Keeping to the Black 知白守黑

“Know the white, keep to the black, and be a pattern for the world.”

“知其白，守其黑，为天下式。”

“White” represents the facts that have already occurred—the deterministic, the known. “Black” represents the latent potential at the edge of chaos—the unknown, the full spectrum of possibility. Life and intelligence exist only between these two. A completely ordered system (All White) is dead; a completely chaotic system (All Black) is useless.

白是已经发生的事实，是确定的、已知的；黑是混沌边缘的隐性潜力，是未知的、充满可能性的。生命和智能只存在于这两者之间。完全有序（全白）的系统是僵死的，完全混乱（全黑）的系统是无用的。

“Knowing the white and keeping to the black” means remaining at the Edge of Chaos. Do not allow the system to fully collapse into a rigid, deterministic structure; instead, retain enough redundancy, uncertainty, and plasticity. Only then, when a “Black Swan” strikes, will the system possess enough Antifragility to adapt and evolve.

“知白守黑”就是保持在混沌边缘——不要让系统完全坍缩成确定的死板结构，要保留足够的冗余、不确定性和可塑性。这样当黑天鹅冲击来临时，系统才有足够的反脆弱性去适应和进化。

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. But that which cannot be told is perhaps hidden within every moment of emergence, every bifurcation, and the endless cycles of every simple rule.

道可道，非常道。但那个不可道的部分，或许正藏在每一刻的涌现、每一次的分岔、每一个简单规则的无尽循环之中。