    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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