Complex Systems Science: How Do Math And Intuition Help Us Understand Whole Systems?
Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 10:28
in Biology & Nature
The human brain may be the ultimate complex system, but other examples appear everywhere. Take army ants. Despite their name, they have no general, and their queen sends out no instructions. No ant is aiming to get across that gully, and there is no blueprint or traffic light. Yet millions of ants, following the same instinctive rules of individual behavior, can build bridges with their bodies and forage for food along vast efficient highways.