Human Stigmergy
Since stigmergy was discovered among social insects, it has been observed in several other fields. Stigmergic patterns have been recognised in human behaviour too. Here the stigmergic agents are human beings, acting in a physical environment. Human stigmergy is observed in stock markets, path creation, and how traffic patterns adapt to surroundings.
Human Stigmergy
When comparing stigmergy in its pristine form of social insects to other fields, the complexity of the agent is often very different. Human beings with their social processes and cognition are of a different level in complexity than social insects (Susi & Ziemke, 2001). Human activities should not be directly compared to the stigmergic behaviour in social insects; they are rather based on the same principles. Agents, or in this case, people, are coordinating work in an environment with marks that guide their actions (Parunak, 2005). A comparison should focus on some common basic elements from stigmergy, not on a full comparison. Common for them both is that several agents interact in a shared environment. To some extent, marks are stimulating their actions resulting in a collaborative activity (Susi & Ziemke, 2001).
Similar to what has been recognised as stigmergy in insect, an individual modifies the physical environment. The modification functions like a stigmergic mark and it is likely to change the behaviour of other individuals at a later point (Susi & Ziemke, 2001). Since actions happen at different times, they are not based on direct communication, observation or imitation. The only communication is achieved through these marks. Human activities rarely take place in isolation; other agents are regularly involved. When people interact through marks, they affect the behaviour of each other (Susi & Ziemke, 2001). On the other hand, it does not mean that several people must be involved, for stigmergic actions to occur. Stigmergy can take place even when subsequent tasks are performed only by one individual.
Activities of human stigmergy are partly recorded in the environment to achieve coordinated behaviour (Susi & Ziemke, 2001). Marks might be left either intentionally or unintentionally. Unintentional marks are often an unplanned side effect of an action that will stimulate new actions (Heylighen, 2016a). Intentional marks might be written material such as notes, web-pages or messages. Further, some instances of human stigmergy might rely on computers, while others do not (Parunak, 2005).
There is a difference between consciousness in social insects and human beings. Insects are not conscious of a goal, nor do they have the ability to reflect upon their actions (Susi & Ziemke, 2001). The behaviour of social insects is based on a response to stimuli. Insects have an integrated stimuli-response and thus immediately act upon stimuli from environmental marks (Christensen, 2014). People do not necessarily act upon stimuli. Humans are, to a greater extent, conscious of their actions and can choose whether they want to react to stimuli (Susi & Ziemke, 2001). There is often a goal underlying humans’ activities, and their reflection influences their response to stimuli. Human consciousness does not exclusively mean people are aware of their stigmergic behaviour or contribution.
Path Creation
Path creation happens when several people choose the same route through terrain (Parunak, 2005). As soon as it emerges, more people will be attracted to following it. People walking on it contributes a positive reinforcement to the path. Path overgrowth will be a result of people not using the path over time. In this case, the path experiences negative reinforcement from the environment. Organising how a path should be created is not planned through direct communication between the contributors. All contributors travel the path at different times (Heylighen, 2016b). The environment is communicating the ongoing process.
Desire paths, as seen in figure 3, are an example of such stigmergic path creation. Desire paths are shortcuts made by people, for instance, crossing a lawn. Sometimes people are not intentionally contributing to the stigmergic collaboration. Their original intention might not be to make a path. Instead, it commonly is to avoid an obstacle or save time. The path creation is then a side effect of their action.
Figure 3 A desire path across the lawn
Stigmergy in Markets
Stigmergy has been recognised in markets, which are self-organised. The market itself is the environment. Each transaction of buying or selling can be understood as a mark. Transactions will further affect the price of an item. Price fluctuations affect further transactions (Heylighen, 2016a). A price drop might cause more items sold. High demand for an item might lead to a price rise from a limited supply. When the prices are high, the demand for an item decreases again (Heylighen, 2016b). There is a loop pattern due to the change in transactions. Price change reinforces transactions negatively or positively.
Superdistribution is a term capturing a mode of distribution of electronic goods. They are, for instance, digital software components or videos. In superdistribution, information is shared seamlessly. It takes advantage of the ease-of-replication in electronic goods. Instead of copy protecting products, the idea is to let all producers and consumers cooperate and compete with electronic goods. The purpose is not to count how many times something has been sold or produced. The primary purpose is to count how many times an object is used. The economy could shift to base around counting used objects. Electronic objects could be freely distributed, and the revenue would be based on the usage of them (Cox, 1994). Superdistribution may automatically streamline the production chain from quantity, as one are paid by usability instead of delivery. Payments would, in this case, rely on some digital currency like cryptocurrencies.