devine@shodha.enet.dec.com (Bob Devine) (10/27/90)
> In article <1990Oct23.170118.27104@ecn.purdue.edu> muttiah@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Ranjan S Muttiah) writes: > It seems that some flock of birds fly in random formation and > then suddenly converge together, and then continue almost in random flight > and then again converge etc. In article <254@clbull.cl.bull.fr>, sen@cl.bull.fr (sen) writes: > a interesting analogy. a school of fish swimming in a pond suddenly > as if triggered by a controlling stimuli change direction. > also how do they "watch" the > leader - eyesight (?) or some other physical phenomenon unobserved. Nature is filled with examples of "system" behavior of individual animals. Douglas Hofsteder (sp) even gives a names to the personality of collection of ants as Aunt Hillary. The grouping is not controlled by something beyond the senses. For example, the rapid directional change of fish is mediated by a sense that fish have and humans don't -- a pressure sense. Perhaps the birds use the sense of sound to find the most efficient flight position (battling less headwind should be quieter). The subject of "systems" is fascinating. How are systems formed? How they are maintained despite minor knocks and what level of interference is sufficient to break apart a system? How does a new thing enter a system? Are there systems within a system? How does an individual identify with a system? There are many parallels to intelligence and intelligent behavior (and bunches of other topics too!) here. Bob Devine Digital / DB Engineering