The mud colour revolution is the underlying aim of the master plan, you say?
On 17 Feb., 11:05, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > I rather like the idea of human ingenuity being used to confuse > cockroaches - reminds me of the Monty Python 'confuse a cat' sketch, > Of course, when we use confusion on ourselves we are truly excellent. > What always strikes me when I see the results of animal experiments > (other than the quite dreadful cosmetic ones) is that evolution has > always beaten humankind to complex leadership strategies, suggesting > what we have has less to do with our imagination and more to do with a > genetic programme than we like to believe. > > On 16 Feb, 16:17, gabbydott <[email protected]> wrote: > > > You gotta feel it ;-) > > > On 16 Feb., 16:40, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Oh, is Vam the naked emperor? I didn't notice him saying that bit... ;) > > > > On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 10:31 AM, gabbydott <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Talk straight to Vam if that gets you your relief, not through me, > > > > please. > > > > > On 16 Feb., 16:21, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Been spending a bit of time at the male revue, eh? > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 10:15 AM, gabbydott <[email protected]> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > The way I see it, it looks different when not only the Emperor > > > > > > waggles > > > > > > his naked belly. > > > > > > > On 16 Feb., 11:48, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > " But it does indicate the importance of recruiting active > > > > > > > leaders to > > > > > > > a cause ..." > > > > > > > > Neil, whatever happened to your pathological aversion to " > > > > > > > leaders " > > > > > > > and leadership ? > > > > > > > > On Feb 16, 1:57 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Democracies work better. It has long been held that decisions > > > > > > > > made > > > > > > > > collectively by large groups of people are more likely to turn > > > > > > > > out > > > > to > > > > > > > > be accurate than decisions made by individuals. The idea goes > > > > > > > > back > > > > to > > > > > > > > the "jury theorem" of Nicolas de Condorcet, an 18th-century > > > > > > > > French > > > > > > > > philosopher who was one of the first to apply mathematics to the > > > > > > > > social sciences. Now it is becoming clear that group decisions > > > > > > > > are > > > > > > > > also extremely valuable for the success of social animals, such > > > > > > > > as > > > > > > > > ants, bees, birds and dolphins. And those animals may have a > > > > > > > > thing > > > > or > > > > > > > > two to teach people about collective decision-making. > > > > > > > > Animals that live in groups make two main sorts of choices: > > > > consensus > > > > > > > > decisions in which the group makes a single collective choice, > > > > > > > > as > > > > when > > > > > > > > house-hunting rock ants decide where to settle; and combined > > > > > > > > decisions, such as the allocation of jobs among worker bees. > > > > > > > > > Condorcet's theory describes consensus decisions, outlining how > > > > > > > > democratic decisions tend to outperform dictatorial ones. If > > > > > > > > each > > > > > > > > member of a jury has only partial information, the majority > > > > decision > > > > > > > > is more likely to be correct than a decision arrived at by an > > > > > > > > individual juror. Moreover, the probability of a correct > > > > > > > > decision > > > > > > > > increases with the size of the jury. But things become more > > > > > > > > complicated when information is shared before a vote is taken. > > > > People > > > > > > > > then have to evaluate the information before making a collective > > > > > > > > decision. This is what bees do, and they do it rather well, > > > > according > > > > > > > > to Christian List of the London School of Economics, who has > > > > studied > > > > > > > > group decision-making in humans and animals along with Larissa > > > > Conradt > > > > > > > > of the University of Sussex. > > > > > > > > Dr List looked at colonies of honeybees (Apis mellifera), which > > > > > > > > in > > > > > > > > late spring or early summer divide once the swarm reach a > > > > > > > > certain > > > > > > > > size. The queen goes off with about two-thirds of the worker > > > > > > > > bees > > > > to > > > > > > > > live in a new home leaving a daughter queen in the nest with the > > > > > > > > remaining worker bees. Among the bees that depart are scouts > > > > > > > > that > > > > > > > > search for the new nest site and report back using a waggle > > > > > > > > dance > > > > to > > > > > > > > advertise suitable locations. The longer the dance, the better > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > site. After a while, other scouts start to visit the sites > > > > advertised > > > > > > > > by their compatriots and, on their return, also perform more > > > > > > > > waggle > > > > > > > > dances. The process eventually leads to a consensus on the best > > > > site > > > > > > > > and the swarm migrates. The decision is remarkably reliable, > > > > > > > > with > > > > the > > > > > > > > bees choosing the best site even when there are only small > > > > differences > > > > > > > > between two alternatives. By tinkering around with a computer > > > > > > > > simulation they found that computerised bees that were very > > > > > > > > good at > > > > > > > > finding nesting sites but did not share their information > > > > dramatically > > > > > > > > slowed down the migration, leaving the swarm homeless and > > > > vulnerable. > > > > > > > > Conversely, computerised bees that blindly followed the waggle > > > > dances > > > > > > > > of others without first checking whether the site was, in fact, > > > > > > > > as > > > > > > > > advertised, led to a swift but mistaken decision. The > > > > > > > > researchers > > > > > > > > concluded that the ability of bees to identify quickly the best > > > > site > > > > > > > > depends on the interplay of bees' interdependence in > > > > > > > > communicating > > > > the > > > > > > > > whereabouts of the best site and their independence in > > > > > > > > confirming > > > > this > > > > > > > > information. > > > > > > > > > Simon Hix, also of the London School of Economics, and his > > > > colleagues > > > > > > > > examined voting in the EU Parliament and concluded that, as > > > > > > > > might > > > > be > > > > > > > > expected, it was along party-political lines even though the > > > > > > > > incentives to do so were far less than at national parliaments. > > > > > > > > Dr > > > > Hix > > > > > > > > and his colleagues reckon that European parliamentarians share > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > collection of information but, unlike the honeybees, they do not > > > > > > > > necessarily progress to investigating the issues for themselves > > > > before > > > > > > > > taking a vote. > > > > > > > > > There is danger in blindly following the party line, a danger > > > > > > > > that > > > > the > > > > > > > > honeybees seem to avoid. Condorcet's theory fails to consider > > > > whether > > > > > > > > there is an inbuilt bias among a group that comes together to > > > > consider > > > > > > > > a problem. This "groupthink" occurs when people copy one > > > > > > > > another. > > > > > > > > According to Dr List: "The swarm manages to block and prevent > > > > > > > > the > > > > kind > > > > > > > > of groupthink that can bedevil good decision making." Dr List > > > > > > > > adds > > > > > > > > that people demonstrate this kind of bad decision-making when > > > > > > > > investors pile into a stock and others follow, creating a bubble > > > > for > > > > > > > > which there is no good reason. > > > > > > > > > Another form of groupthink occurs when people are either > > > > > > > > isolated > > > > from > > > > > > > > crucial sources of information or dominated by other members of > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > group, some of whom may have malevolent intent. This too has now > > > > been > > > > > > > > demonstrated in animals. José Halloy of the Free University of > > > > > > > > Brussels used robotic cockroaches to subvert the behaviour of > > > > living > > > > > > > > cockroaches and control their decision-making process. In his > > > > > > > > experiment, reported in an earlier issue of Science, the > > > > > > > > artificial > > > > > > > > bugs were introduced to the real ones and soon became > > > > > > > > sufficiently > > > > > > > > socially integrated that they were perceived as equals. By > > > > > > > > manipulating the robots, which were in the minority, he was > > > > > > > > able to > > > > > > > > persuade the cockroaches to choose an inappropriate shelter—even > > > > one > > > > > > > > which they had rejected before being infiltrated by machines. > > > > > > > > Could > > > > > > > > this form the basis of a new way of catching them? > > > > > > > > > The way animals make collective decisions can be complex. Nigel > > > > Franks > > > > > > > > of the University of Bristol, in England, and his colleagues > > > > studied > > > > > > > > how a species of ants called Temnothorax albipennis establish a > > > > > > > > new > > > > > > > > nest. In the Royal Society journal they report how the insects > > > > > > > > mitigate the disadvantages of making a swift choice. If the > > > > > > > > ants' > > > > > > > > existing nest becomes threatened, the insects send out scouts to > > > > seek > > > > > > > > a new one. How quickly they accomplish this transfer depends not > > > > only > > > > > > > > on how soon the ants agree on the best available site but also > > > > > > > > on > > > > how > > > > > > > > quickly they can migrate there. When a suitable place is > > > > identified, > > > > > > > > the scouts begin to lead other scouts, which had remained > > > > > > > > behind to > > > > > > > > guard the old nest, to the new site. The problem is that if the > > > > > > > > decision is reached rapidly, as it might have to be in an > > > > emergency, > > > > > > > > then relatively few scouts know the route. It would then take > > > > > > > > much > > > > > > > > longer to train all the scouts needed to achieve the transfer, > > > > which > > > > > > > > involves carrying the queen, the workers and the brood to the > > > > > > > > new > > > > > > > > nest. > > > > > > > > > Dr Franks and his colleagues identified a type of behaviour > > > > > > > > called > > > > > > > > "reverse tandem runs" that makes the process more efficient. > > > > > > > > During > > > > > > > > the carrying phase of migration, the scouts lead other scouts > > > > > > > > back > > > > > > > > along the quickest route to the old nest so that more scouts > > > > > > > > become > > > > > > > > familiar with the route. Thus the dynamics of collective > > > > > > > > decision- > > > > > > > > making are closely entwined with the implementation of these > > > > > > > > decisions. How this > > ... > > Erfahren Sie mehr » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
