Swarm Intelligence : An Organization

As scientists continue to their research, fundamental questions about intelligence are brought to the surface.

The documentary Alien of the Deep Sea presented us with six different experiments aimed at studying different aspects of octopuses' intelligence. I will focus on just one of those experiments and attempt to apply Jackendoff's First Fundamental Argument which argues that a language user's mind can be viewed as an internal computational system containing unconscious set of rules.

Octavia Butler wrote of an advanced alien race far superior than the primitive human. The Oankali had the ability to communicate through a linked neural network of all living things on their ship and share information in a “collective consciousness”. I will show that Butler’s Dawn, described a narrative where a more evolved consciousness like the Oankali’s, is the key to saving the human race from destroying ourselves and our planet in the nuclear age. We will see how this idea of a higher or combined consciousness has played a role in other literature, like the cyber network in Neuromancer, and the controlled consciousness of The Matrix 1999 movie.

In the introduction of the book Johnson begins by giving a narrative about the role that slime mold took in discovering emergent behavior. Biologist in time have struggled to answer questions as to how these organisms work together. The main concern about these emerging organisms was whether or not there was a controlling member who directed all other members in each of the communities. More than likely, the possible solution for any of these communities to show some sense of order would be if there were a controlling unit or what Johnson mentions as “controlling agents” that would be in charge of keeping the community in harmony.

“Imagine for a moment that we are nothing but the product of billions of years of molecules coming together and ratcheting up through natural selection, that we are composed only of highways of fluids and chemicals sliding along roadways within billions dancing cells, that trillions of synaptic conversations hum in parallel, that this vast egg like fabric of micron-thin circuitry runs algorithms undreamt in modern science, and that these neural programs give rise to our decision making, loves, desires, fears and aspirations.”

produces an expert in one arena of collaboration with the world. The basic logic of this operation is specific through genetic programs. It is modified through natural selection to unravel problems of gathering and hunting life besides ancestors in most of evolutionary history. (Buller, D. J. 2006)

    According to Gould, his book strongly argues about the abstraction of intelligence as a single entity. By measuring the brain and its location as a tool to rank individuals in a series of worthiness in society. This measurement as believed by Gould determination that the disprivileged, oppressed group of races, sexes or class deserve their state because of their brains size.

In 1983 Jerry Fodor opened the introduction to his new research of “Modularity of mind” with the phrase; “Behavior is organized, but the organization of behavior is merely derivative”. This meaning that behaviors are simply imitations, never original nor created. Fodor created a theory of how the mind was structured and how would perform. He studied the architecture of mind in modules; a term that will describe that the mind had different specific structures that had precise purposes. Jesse J. Prinz just like Fodor was a philosopher who was in opposition of the “Modularity of the mind” theory. This essay will have as a purpose to create an argument on the explanation and disagreement that Prinz wrote cluster by cluster against the theory “Modularity of mind” in an article called “Is the mind really modular?”

In an effort to prove that computers will never evolve into systems similar to human, Fish (2011) also presents an illogical argument that men will never be able to create a machine that is comparable to mankind, which is a paradox in itself as he tries to prove mankind’s superiority by assuming a limited the scope of man’s intelligence in creating complex machines with cognitive abilities.

Scientist at the University of Queen Mary of London discovered that bumblebees can learn how to collect food from challenges like pulling a string and are able to pass that ability to the rest of the colony. This is the first time intelligence has been seen in an insect; and, the first time that a cultural spread of this caliber has been seen in invertebrates. These findings are important because not only does it show that bees, like the honeybees, have the intelligence to solve problems or learn to solve problems on their own; but, it also shows that other bees can learn by observing a trained bee do the same thing. This experiment also gives insight to the social and culture interactions in animals that may show the evolutionary roots

Many are disconcerted by the idea that humans and Minds can be described as systems which operate based on interpretations of symbols, much like machines, computers, and robots: things that we have created yet do not think of as being “thinking,” themselves. We, as human beings, are comforted in the notion that we are born into this world with a fully capable Mind, a soul or spirit, and are, thereafter, free to choose our fate as we will. Although it seems plausible that we are born with Mind, I cannot subscribe to such a simplistic version of thinking about our true capacity for affecting outcome.

The three pound ball of neurons floating carefully encased within the confinement of the human skull is surely sheltered from all previous knowledge and understanding of human experience; perhaps not as collective unconscious, a theory proposed by psychologist Carl Jung, argues memories may transcend time—defying traditional thought (Saladin 70). Jung makes a bold claim with his hypothesis in his new found concept, collective unconscious, however it is not without flaw or even remotely impermeable to counter arguments. This theory asserts that there are “archetypes” or fundamentally instincts and memories passed down to all humans (939). Jung's collective unconscious is in gross neglect of following proper scientific method, taking information

In 2011, Dr. Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University successfully created “Brainet architectures consisting of two or three monkey brains” (Computing Arm Movements 3). Later on, Dr. Nicolelis synchronized four rat brains together “essentiality turning these rats into processors” (A Researcher Made 6). In these two experiments, EEG technology allowed for the animals brains to work in synchronization with one another, bypassing an need for auditory or visual sensory communication. These, so called, “Brainets [of individuals] consistently performed at the same or higher levels than single rats,” allowing them to perform more advanced tasks that would be unsurmountable with only a single mind in use (qtd. in A Researcher Made 7). Basically, these researchers have created the first organic computer that, as of now, can perform "useful computational problems, such as discrete classification, image processing, storage and retrieval of tactile information, and even weather forecasting” (qtd. in A Researcher Made 7). Fundamentally speaking, it’s as if science has replaced bytes and chips of a computer with the minds of living organisms. The bizarre applications of brain-to-brain interfacing does not draw a line between species either. In 2013, the professor of radiology at Harvard University, Dr. Seung-Schik Yoo, “developed the first interspecies ‘brain-to-brain

* Developments in computer science would lead to parallels being drawn between human thought and the computational functionality of computers, opening entirely new areas of psychological thought. Allen Newell and Herbert Simon spent years developing the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) and later worked with cognitive psychologists regarding the implications of AI. The effective result was more of a framework conceptualization of mental functions with

Assigning tasks to the member robots of the swarm to do the task productively and efficiently and productively is known as task allocation. While assigning tasks to the robots not only does the task have to be completed, but the work should also be distributed efficiently among the swarm. It should consider the available resources, see what has to be optimized, check the capabilities of the robots and then assign the tasks accordingly. Both homogenous and heterogeneous swarms could be used for certain operations.