- the ability of a system to structure itself without external control
- neurons create cyberlinks based on local knowledge. the cybergraph self-organizes into clusters, hierarchies, and pathways
- the tri-kernel formalizes this: springs crystallize structure, diffusion explores, heat kernel adapts
- focus conservation (sum = 1) is the constraint that forces self-organization — emphasizing one thing defocuses others
- the system prunes itself: unused links decay, noisy connections lose weight
- see collective intelligence for the broader framework