Group Intelligence in Complex Systems

Aug 05, 2005 10:06

When groups of individual units come together, they sometimes work as if controlled by a unifying/group intelligence. E.g. Flocks of birds, fish etc ( Read more... )

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anomalis August 5 2005, 21:30:01 UTC
i think people have free will to do whatever they want... if they can realize they want to do it. that's how i would choose to justify your idea here. if there is an overlying consciousness(even if it is not conscious of itself) it is not necessarily -controlling- us for we are indeed part of it, and to some degree we would(i imagine, of course) affect it as well. but even without the individual affecting the whole being a part of the idea, i don't think that type of consciousness strips us of our will. it can just keep us from seeing or feeling whatever it is we'd really want to do, thus putting a damper on our will.

of course, you are certainly correct that the possibility exists that i am never myself as i think i am, and every decision i make has already been made by someone else. but if that -is- the case, what is the difference? i feel like me regardless of what causes me to be. so i am. period.

that's my take. good post, as always. i look forward to them.

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pyrohypnotik August 10 2005, 16:59:50 UTC
I'll go out there a ways...

I believe we are some sort of energy devise with positive and negative poles, just like a battery.

We have seen what the power of prayer or meditation does when groups come together for a common cause.

Imagine if the 6 billion plus on this planet were to have the same thought at the same time...what kind of energy would that create and what could be done with that enegry...yup. we're just batteries on a cosmic level in some sort of computer program...or not ;)

Peace

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paenumbrae August 14 2005, 05:26:59 UTC
I've seen some compelling arguments for taking it all the way, taking life/consciousness as a fractal progression from the entire universe as a whole, down through superclusters, galaxies, stars, planets and individual people/creatures down to organs and cells.

Like you said, it's difficult to gain an accurate overview when you're still inside the system, but even the idea that we're interconnected as part of a whole does some powerful things to your sense of perspective.

pyrohypnotik's idea of billions of people having the same thought at the same time pretty much nails it - what are two billion people thinking about at the same time every sunday morning..? :p

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