1	Characteristics of the collective intelligence of an ant colony system No ant is in charge. The individual ants are unable to asses the global situation. Global results are achieved through purely local interactions among neighboring ants and the environment.
2	"“I" “I don’t think that the ants are assessing the size of the colony, but I think that the colony size affects what an ant experiences, which is different. I don’t think the ant is keeping track of how big the whole colony is, but I think that an ant in a big colony has a different experience from an ant in a small colony.” Deborah Gordon in Emergence, by Stephen Johnson, Simon & Schuster, 2001, p. 76.
3	Features of a Swarm System Many agents Simplicity of the language Random interactions among agents Agents can recognize simple patterns Agents can react to local information
4	The colony as the organism A non-reproductive ant lives at most one year Colonies can live for many years Colonies adapt over time How does the colony develop a life cycle when the individual ants are so short-lived?
5	Decentralization is not new Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations Argument against government control of the economy Advocated decentralized markets Charles Darwin, Origin of Species Decentralized theory of natural selection
6	Organizations Economies and Governments Soviet Union 1991 – decentralization of economic and political structures Shifts towards democracies Shifts towards market economies vs. centrally controlled economies Education Shift decision making from state or district to individual schools Changing teacher from a central authority to a “catalyst, coach, and collaborator” Companies Decentralization of management structures
7	"“The organizational pyramid is..." “The organizational pyramid is the cause of much corporate evil, because the tip is too far from the base. Pyramids emphasize power, promote insecurity, distort communications hobble interactions, and make it difficult for the people who plan and the people who execute to move in the same direction.” R. Semler, “Managing without Managers,” Harvard Business Review, 1989.
8	Scientific Models Metaphors of Newtonian physics Universe as a machine, a clockwork mechanism Linear cause and effect rules Mutual interaction is de-emphasized Complex systems or emergent systems, often take ideas from biology Decentralized interactions and feedback loops Examine how complex large scale behavior can emerge from local interactions of small scale parts with simple rules
9	Theories of Self and Mind Object relations theory Relationships with people in the world are internalized as objects within the mind The self emerges from the interactions among these internalized objects AI, Marvin Minsky, Society of Mind Societies of mental agents work together and compete to do things that no agent could do on its own
10	"The idea of a single..." The idea of a single stream of consciousness implies a “single function summit or central point” where it all comes together. And such a summit does not exist. The idea of a special center in the brain is the most tenacious bad idea bedeviling our attempts to think about consciousness.” Daniel Dennet in Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams, by Mitchel Resnick, 1995.
11	Theories of Knowledge Literary criticism Traditional theories of literature assumed that meaning was created by the author and conveyed in writing Some modern schools of literary criticism focus on the readers as the main constructors of meaning. Texts have little or no inherent meaning. Meanings are reconstructed by communities of readers through their interactions with the text Meaning is decentralized?
12	Centralized Mindset A leader in foraging ants, or a flock of birds Mass extinction caused by external forces Slime-mold cells Scientists believed that the aggregation process was coordinated by specialized slime-mold cells (founders or pacemakers) Conspiracy Theories World economy, family values, violence, etc.