This course could have delved in more depth in the respective subject. What was presented was good but I felt that more could have been presented.

nice course

The course is too basic and does not provide much insights. It is also a pity that there is not a forum to discuss with the other students. Overall the course seems managed in a very lazy manner as compared to other coursera courses.

I was disappointed with this course. It was unclear to whom it was intended because in parts it assumed a very limited knowledge of science yet quite a detailed understanding of mathematics, including Newton's method for finding roots, and Fourier series. In most of the sections I was left wanting to learn more. For example, in the module on consciousness, the key issue of how consciousness emerges from the coordinated activity of neurons wasn't touched on, yet there are several theories on how this might come about - I would have loved to have heard about these theories. Overall, I felt each of the modules was too short and too shallow. Perhaps if they were doubled in length then this might address the shortcomings that I experienced.

I also wasn't enamoured with the idea of peer-graded assignments, so I didn't attempt those. But what would have been useful would have been a discussion forum which is a feature of most Coursera courses.

Unsatisfying hodgepodge of examples without any formalism of a very exciting modern subject. Often too superficial and short (3h over 6 week?) for university level. Many lecturer's interview betray their misunderstanding of the course's intended central themes. The student is left wondering in each module what really makes these phenomena emergent beyond being macroscopic properties of complex systems of many agents. The module on consciousness barely attempts a satisfying definition, rather listing a bunch of functions associated with consciousness, and ends frustratingly with a perfect case study without exploring so many of the relevant questions. I'll expand a bit more on that last point: the lecturer says a person with separated brain hemispheres may have two answers to a question: "the left brain thinks yes, the right brain thinks no", and ends there. But what does the person actually think? Do they have 2 personalities, 2 consciousnesses? Or do they maintain a single consciousness, a single awareness? So many questions are raised, but again, the actual interesting topic of what consciousness is and how it may emerge from the brain is not really addressed.

In conclusion, this course gives the impression that emergence is just a vague idea that applies to many domains, but has not really been developed or researched yet. Disappointing.

It is a basic course, I was expecting to be more immersed in the mathematical details. There are a few recommendations, however, it was not what I was looking for.

too simple

Reductionism versus emergence: merely a short-sighted and fashionable point of view. Nothing to learn here and no way to check that you learned anything.