Xref: utzoo comp.ai:7905 comp.ai.philosophy:231
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From: sen@cl.bull.fr (sen)
Newsgroups: comp.ai,comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Bird flight as an emergent property
Message-ID: <254@clbull.cl.bull.fr>
Date: 26 Oct 90 16:34:47 GMT
References: <1990Oct23.170118.27104@ecn.purdue.edu>
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Organization: BULL Les Clayes, FRANCE
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In article <1990Oct23.170118.27104@ecn.purdue.edu> muttiah@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Ranjan S Muttiah) writes:
>
>	Here are some observations that were triggered on reading a
>simulation about bird flight on one of the BBoards (Alife ?).
>
>----
>	It seems that some flock of birds fly in random formation and
>then suddenly converge together, and then continue almost in random flight
>and then again converge etc.  I was puzzled about whether there were
>"leaders" in the flock that the other followed or whether the birds were
>just forced into the streamlines of the air ?  If the birds were indeed
>following a few leaders it seemed to me that they would also have similar
>wing beating patterns.  It is really an interesting question of whether
>birds  (in flight) show intelligent behaviour or are just purely constrained
>by the physical laws of flight (wind streams etc).
>
>Any comments ?

      a interesting analogy. a school of fish swimming in a pond suddenly
      as if triggered by a controlling stimuli change direction. anybody 
      watching a fish pond could find it. if there is a leader (the first fish)
      then their reaction time is near-zero. also how do they "watch" the 
      leader - eyesight (?) or some other physical phenomenon unobserved.
      looking at the speed of reaction one would choose the latter (!!!).
      personally i am confused a bit on this.

      i am sorry for the digression but lookink at your theme i felt to give

						- siddhartha 
      this example.
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