How does a swarm of bees select a new spot for a hive? How do schools of fish decide which way to swim next?
John Miller, SFI Professor and Professor of Economics and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, is organizing a January 8-11 workshop, “Collective Decision Making: From Neurons to Societies,” with social insect specialists Nigel Franks (University of Bristol) and Tom Seeley (Cornell University).
The meeting will bring together some 20 experts to find common theories among their fields of microbiology, immunology, social insect behavior, neuroscience, political science, and engineering.
With bees, scouts find and communicate sites, and hive members act as a “super- organism” in reaching a choice without a central authority. By understanding how such decentralized systems make decisions, the researchers hope to gain insight into how societies form, how they function, and how they break down. Common themes, as well as decision-making differences, may shed light on complex adaptive systems such as stock markets and voting. They also may offer strategies to improve how human organizations make decisions.
As John puts it, “Bees find new homes, and political systems and new presidents. Maybe they aren’t all that different.”