Emergent properties of alternatives in decision-making theory

It is shown that, within the vector-based approach, the decision-making problem can be represented as a hierarchical system of criteria by decomposing the emergent properties of an alternative. At the lowest level, the evaluation of an alternative with respect to individual properties is carried out using a vector of criteria, while at the upper level an overall evaluation of the alternative is obtained through a composition mechanism. The problem is solved by the method of nested scalar aggregations of vector criteria. The methodology for solving the problem is based on N. Bohr’s principle of complementarity and K. Godel’s incompleteness theorem. An important concept of systems analysis is the integrity of a system. Certain phenomena can be understood only by studying the entire object of research (an organism, a system, etc.) in its integrity. For example, we cannot perceive a musical composition by examining only its individual sounds and rhythms. This phenomenon is defined in science by the term emergence: the existence in a system of holistic properties that are not possessed by its individual elements. Emergence is a criterion feature of a system. A characteristic of emergence is the non-additivity of system properties, the inapplicability of the superposition principle, and the nonlinear relationship between the properties of the system and those of its individual elements. The emergence of such properties is the result of the synergy of elements (enhancement of properties). In fact, this is nothing other than the well-known dialectical law of the transformation of quantity into quality. Emergence is caused by the interaction of elements (subsystems) within a functioning system, which as a whole exhibits new qualities and regularities inherent only to it. For instance, the system of vision has such a property as three-dimensional perception, which is absent in any single element (the left or the right eye). This principle underlies technical systems that use the stereoscopic effect. There are objects whose individual elements possess properties that are diametrically opposed.