8
intel
ligence--its problem solving ability--is in the web itself--the
constant feeling, touching and communicating between the bees that
pool their brains into one. The problem is solved not by a single bee
but by the interconnected mass.
The social network manages to solve problems in the world
around it by the same principle that underlies the neural net.
Connections the system finds useful are strengthened. Connections
that prove useless are weakened.
When a bee flies off, finds a source of nectar and comes back
home, it indicates to its hive-mates where the nectar is located, whether
the trip involves battling a stiff wind or breezing merrily through still
air, and if the cache of food is packed with nourishment or simply
contains a marginal snack. The bee gets her information across by
dancing on the wall of the hive, moving in a figure eight whose
orientation indicates the direction of the nectar and whose length
indicates distance and the difficulty of getting there.9
But how does an individual bee gauge the need for nectar in the
hive? She does not step inside the habitation to check how full the
honeycombs are. Incoming transport bees sense the demand for the
cargo they deliver by a simple social cue, the kind of cue that humans
have their antennae out for at cocktail parties. If a burdened bee
arrives at the hive entrance and workers rush over immediately to
unpack her nectar, the incoming flier knows that there is a considerable
hunger for more deliveries. The freight-carrier is imbued with a sense
of energy and rushes off to pick up another load. If the nectar-laden
hauler lands on the entrance lip and is left untended, if, in fact, she has
to look around forlornly, begging for the attention of one busy worker
after another, then she knows the need is not so great. She is hit with a
sense of lethargy, and bumbles back to work with sluggishness.10
When the bee who fails to find an eager welcoming committee
goes through a down-shift in mood, her response to social cues is more
than an individualistic emotional dither. It is the secret to the social
network's problem-solving power. For the communal learning
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