11/19/2015 02:50:00 am
ZNB
Local interactions inside self-organizing systems can be based on two very different communication methods. Firstly, through symbolic or non-symbolic signalization from one agent to another, as direct communication. Secondly, through a stimulus obtained from the environment, as indirect communication.
However, while direct transfers of information tend to be visible, since natural selection has formed signals to be strong and effective manifestations, indirect transfers of information are often more subtle and are based on fortuitous stimulus in the environment of an organism.
The indirect form of communication between individuals was first described by French entomologist Pierre-Paul Grassé in 1950s and named "stigmergy" (from the Greek stigma : sting and ergon: work).
This term means the class of mechanisms that intervene in animal-animal interactions.
Stigmergy has much helped researchers in understanding the connection between individual and collective behavior, highlighting that an alternative theory could explain the paradox of coordination of social insects: Although the behavior of the colony seems utterly organized and coordinated as a whole, it seems that each insect follows its proper agenda of the day without paying attention to its comrades.
The fundamental principle of stigmergy is extremely simple: left trails and modifications provided by individuals in their environment can self-retroact. The colony saves its activity partially in the physical environment and use that record to organize the collective behavior.
However, stigmergy alone is not sufficient to explain collective intelligence, , as it only refers to animal-animal interactions. Therefore, it has to be complemented with an additional mechanism that makes use of these interactions to coordinate and regulate the collective task in a particular way. At least two mechanisms have been identified: Self-organization and self-assembly1. Self-organization, also known as: "quantitative stigmergy" or "stigmergic self-organization". This mechanism provides the basic ingredients in social insects: the resultant process produces outcomes that display the characteristic signatures. Stigmergic self-organization is distinguished from the purely physical mentioned above in that it involves agents that can alter the environment.
As a consequence of stigmergy and self-organization, complex behaviors which had been explained on the basis of certain rules of interaction among individuals were later accounted for even simpler behaviors in the context of environmental stimuli.
----------------------------
Footnotes:
1Self-assembly: denoting the construction of physical structures formed by individuals by tying up one to another, e.g. formation of living bridges.
However, while direct transfers of information tend to be visible, since natural selection has formed signals to be strong and effective manifestations, indirect transfers of information are often more subtle and are based on fortuitous stimulus in the environment of an organism.
The indirect form of communication between individuals was first described by French entomologist Pierre-Paul Grassé in 1950s and named "stigmergy" (from the Greek stigma : sting and ergon: work).
This term means the class of mechanisms that intervene in animal-animal interactions.
Stigmergy has much helped researchers in understanding the connection between individual and collective behavior, highlighting that an alternative theory could explain the paradox of coordination of social insects: Although the behavior of the colony seems utterly organized and coordinated as a whole, it seems that each insect follows its proper agenda of the day without paying attention to its comrades.
The fundamental principle of stigmergy is extremely simple: left trails and modifications provided by individuals in their environment can self-retroact. The colony saves its activity partially in the physical environment and use that record to organize the collective behavior.
However, stigmergy alone is not sufficient to explain collective intelligence, , as it only refers to animal-animal interactions. Therefore, it has to be complemented with an additional mechanism that makes use of these interactions to coordinate and regulate the collective task in a particular way. At least two mechanisms have been identified: Self-organization and self-assembly1. Self-organization, also known as: "quantitative stigmergy" or "stigmergic self-organization". This mechanism provides the basic ingredients in social insects: the resultant process produces outcomes that display the characteristic signatures. Stigmergic self-organization is distinguished from the purely physical mentioned above in that it involves agents that can alter the environment.
As a consequence of stigmergy and self-organization, complex behaviors which had been explained on the basis of certain rules of interaction among individuals were later accounted for even simpler behaviors in the context of environmental stimuli.
----------------------------
Footnotes:
1Self-assembly: denoting the construction of physical structures formed by individuals by tying up one to another, e.g. formation of living bridges.
0 comments:
Post a Comment