Or at least wasps with pocket protectors?

Physics, abstract
physics/0602003

From: Sergi Valverde [view email]

Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 12:07:27 GMT (742kb)

Emergent Behavior in Agent Networks: Self-Organization in Wasp and Open Source Communities

Authors: Sergi Valverde, Guy Theraulaz, Jacques Gautrais, Vincent Fourcassie, Ricard V. Sole

Comments: 12 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in the IEEE Intelligent Systems Special Issue on Self-Management through Self-Organization (2006)

Subj-class: Physics and Society

Understanding the complex dynamics of communities of software developers requires a view of such organizations as a network of interacting agents involving both goals and constraints. Beyond their special features, these systems display some overall patterns of organization not far from the ones seen in other types of organizations, including both natural and artificial entities. By looking at both software developers and social insects as agents interacting in a complex network, we found common statistical patterns of organization. Here, simple self-organizing processes leading to the formation of hierarchies in wasp colonies and open source communities are studied. Our analysis further validates simple models of formation of wasp hierarchies based on individual learning. In the open source community, a few members are clearly distinguished from the rest of the community with different reinforcement mechanisms.

http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0602003