Cellular automata and Boolean networks are by now almost a classic example of bottom-up models, as these formal systems can be constructed solely on the basis of local interactions. The simple basic logic of these algorithms can, in principle, be understood as a combinatorial extension of binary propositional logic and thus as a model of the simplest basic forms of human thinking. Despite this fundamental simplicity, it is possible to capture processes of almost unlimited complexity with these models. In particular, they can be used to analyze the simple self-organization of systems, i.e., the emergence of global order structures from purely local interactions of the system elements. Furthermore, adaptive behavior can also be modeled with cellular automata or Boolean networks if special meta-rules are added to the interaction rules.