The Exploit: A Theory of Networks - asounder

Nodes 67
As a concept, swarming derives from biological studies of social
insects and their capacity to collectively carry out complex tasks:
the construction of a nest by wasps, the coordinated flashing among
fireflies, the cooperative transportation of heavy loads by ants, the
global thermoregulation of a nest by bees, and so on. 36 Each of these
examples illustrates the basic rules of biological self - organization,
how a set of simple, local interactions culminates in complex, collective
organization, problem solving, and task fulfillment. In philos -
ophy, the relationship between humans and insects far predates such
scientific studies: Aristotle, in calling the human being a “political animal,”
made a direct contrast to the insect; Hobbes stressed the human
capacity to emerge out of the “state of nature” through the giving up
of rights to a sovereign, a capacity lacking in insects; Marx acknowledged
the capacity of insects to build but emphasized the human capacity
for idealization as part of their “living labor”; and Bergson,
expressing a poetic wonder at the ability of insects to self - organize,
suggested that evolution was multilinear, with human beings excelling
at “reason” and insects excelling at “intuition.”
There is an entire genealogy to be written from the point of view of the
challenge posed by insect coordination, by “swarm intelligence.” Again
and again, poetic, philosophical, and biological studies ask the same question:
how does this “intelligent,” global organization emerge from a myriad
of local, “dumb” interactions?
Arquilla and Ronfeldt also ask this question, but they limit their
inquiry to military applications. Building on the military - historical
work of Sean Edwards, their analysis is ontological: it is about the relationship
between enmity and topology. They distinguish between
four types of aggregate military diagrams: the chaotic melee (in which
person - to - person combat dominates, with little command and control),
brute - force massing (where hierarchy, command formations,
and a battle line predominate), complex maneuvers (where smaller,
multilinear, selective flanking movements accompany massing), and
finally swarming (an “amorphous but coordinated way to strike from
all directions”). 37 While elements of each can be found throughout
history (horse - mounted Mongol warriors provide an early swarming