Feel free to distribute this announcement to anyone who might be interested. You are hereby invited to the fifthteen seminar in our new interdisciplinary series on <http://ecco.vub.ac.be> Evolution, Complexity and Cognition (ECCO):
Stigmergy: a Basic Mechanism for Cognition, Cooperation and Self-Organization Francis Heylighen (ECCO, VUB) Abstract: The concept of stigmergy (from the Greek "stigma" = stimulus, and "ergon" = work) was introduced by the entomologist Grassé to explain the apparently complex, coordinated activity of social insects, such as termites, ants and wasps. The basic principle is that the work performed by one agent leaves a trace that stimulates another agent (or the same) to continue that work. The environment functions here as a shared external memory, registering and making perceivable the state of the activity. In that way it allows agents without internal memory to coordinate their actions, individually or collectively, thus producing an apparently highly organized and intelligent pattern of behavior. The power of this simple mechanism can be illustrated by a variety of applications: blackboard architectures in cognitive science, collaboration without communication in Wikipedia, reflex-based animal behavior, the global workspace theory of consciousness, and the GTD method for personal productivity. When? Next Wednesday 30th May, 2-4 pm. Where? The seminar room is B 0.036 (building B, level 0, close to the human sciences computer rooms), on the VUB Campus Etterbeek. Coffee and drinks are available. Free entrance: everybody welcome! More informations about the ECCO seminars: See http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1666 for the up-to-date page. Best regards, Clément Vidal. _________________________________ http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com <http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com/> Evolution, Complexity and Cognition research group, Free University of Brussels. Krijgskundestraat 33. B-1160 Brussels, Belgium. +32 (0) 2 640 67 37
