word of the day: chreod, check it out.

The definition in the "Double-Tongued" dictionary is a good start: stigmergy n. a process via which unorganized actions of individuals serve as stimuli to the actions of other individuals, and, in sum, result in a single outcome; a group of individuals who collectively behave as a sole entity. The only quibble I have with this definition is that I wouldn't require the "unorganized action" but would perhaps say "even unorganized action" but this is because I want to draw the definition of Stigmergy out into the human world.

The Wikipedia Stigmergy entry inspires me to describe stigmergy as "sign-of-action". It is both record and dynamics. It implies feed back loops and group computation, and it produces maps and adaptation. What definitions do other people like? Where are the limits to what can be described as stigmergy? What other terms compliment stigmergy in the study of adaptive systems for these other domains?

e-mail the webmaster with your thoughts. I would like to hear other's views on stigmergy.

links a short collection of links gleaned from "the google".

Books exploring the topic of stigmergy and related topics such as "complexity" and "complex adaptive systems".

Places to study Complex adaptive systems