In its most generic formulation, stigmergy (an optimization technique) is the phenomenon of indirect communication mediated by modifications of the environment.
“Stigmergy” has finally made it into a mainstream philosophy reference work. It is mentioned in the chapter entitled “Reasoning and Rationality” written by Collin Allen, Peter M. Todd, and Jonathan M. Weinberg.
Colin, by the way, is co-authoring a paper for a themed issue of Cognitive Systems Research on stigmergy Marge Doyle and I are editing.
This article is really creating a buzz (sorry!!) The idea has some resonance to an aspect of Hayek’s social epistemology (see the article that I just today uploaded).
In much the same way that synapses are strengthened while unused linkages weaken and wither away, so too are paths to salient social knowledge strengthened or weakened – “social connectionism,” if you will.
Rejecting the views of classic political philosophers like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau that primitive humankind started out as a collection of scattered, unorganized individuals, Fukuyama writes: “Human sociability is not a historical or cultural acquisition, but something hardwired into human nature.” Nowhere is Wilson, who pioneered this view, even mentioned.
Wilson is of course famous for his work on stigmergy:
• Sematectonic stigmergy.
• Sign-, cue-, or marker-based stigmergy.
Sematectonic stigmergy denotes communication via modification of a physical environment, an elementary example being the carving out of trails. One needs only to cast an eye around any public space, a park or a college quadrangle for instance, to see the grass being worn away, revealing a dirt pathway that is a well-traveled, unplanned and thus indicates an ‘‘unofficial’’ intimation of a shortcut to some salient destination.
Marker-based stigmergy denotes communication via a signaling mechanism. A standard example is the phenomenon of pheromones laid by social insects. Pheromone imbued trails increase the likelihood of other ants following the aforementioned trails. Unlike sematectonic stigmergy which is a response to an environmental modification , marker-based stigmergy does not make any direct contribution to a given task.
Wilson, E. O. (1975/2000). Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Don Lavoie died on this day ten years ago. It just so happens I’m reading his National Economic Planning: What Is Left? and noticed his dates. Here is Steve Horwitz (along with Pete Boettke) marking the commemoration.