Hi
Stigmergy has another meaning in AI derived from the biological meaning: indirect coordination of agents through their environment. It is used in swarm intelligence and related approaches. A good book is the one by Bonabeau, E., Dorigo, M., & Theraulaz, G. (1999). Swarm intelligence: from natural to artificial systems (No. 1). OUP, which even after almost 20 years is still used. There are lots of papers on it in the simulation, optimization and modeling world.There is also research in human-human stigmergy. I am not familiar with any strong work in (design) education specifically using stigmergy.
Rgds
John Gero
http://mason.gmu.edu/~jgero/ <http://mason.gmu.edu/~jgero/>
> On Mar 14, 2017, at 3:52 PM, Ken Friedman <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>
> Dear Fernando,
>
> The term “stigmergy” is a specialized term in entomology, the branch of biology concerned with insects, insect life, and insect behavior. Even in entomology, there is a debate about the phenomenon.
>
> This would be a serious — but difficult — research problem to address if you had already completed your PhD. It would also require that you have the appropriate experience in other fields that hypothesize stigmergic phenonena. But this is not yet a serious hypothetical construct in education, and it is certainly not an established empirical phenomenon. Since you are undertaking a PhD, it would be difficult to deal with this as a serious research problem. The point of earning a PhD is learning how to do research — it is unwise to undertake research problems for which you lack the requisite background and skills, especially not when you work in a school without supervisors that have the appropriate foundations in such fields as entomology or biology. If you want to understand what’s wrong with this topics as a research problem, read Don Norman’s article,
>
> http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/why_design_education.html <http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/why_design_education.html>
>
> If you really want to work with this, the place to start is with a serious literature review. That means reviewing the literature of stigmergy, not the literature of design education. A Google Scholar search will give you some help, but you’ll have to go further if you want to learn enough to determine what you can do with this as a topic.
>
> The dangers of this topic become clear in a single fact. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary does not yet recognize the term. Even the Oxford English Dictionary limits this term to entomology. This suggests that it will be difficult to apply this term to design education in any serious sense.
>
> Here is the OED entry:
>
> —snip—
>
> stigmergy, n.
> Pronunciation: /ˈstɪɡməːdʒi/
> Frequency (in current use):
> Etymology: < French stigmergie (P.-P. Grassé 1959, in Insectes Sociaux VI. 62), < Greek στιγμός pricking + ἔργονwork: see -y suffix3.(Show Less)
> Entomol.
>
> The process by which the results of an insect's activity act as a stimulus to further activity.
>
> 1959 tr. P.-P. Grassé in Insectes Sociaux VI. 79 The stimulation of the workers by the very performances they have achieved is a significant one inducing accurate and adaptable response, and has been named stigmergy.
> 1965 Symp. Zool. Soc. XIV. 128 Experimental evidence would seem to be desirable before accepting stigmergy as the explanation of all co-ordinated constructional behaviour.
> 1981 Atlantic Monthly July 49 There is a similar phenomenon in entomology known as stigmergy.
> (Hide quotations)
>
> Derivatives
>
> stigˈmergic adj.
>
> 1970 G. Ordish tr. R. Chauvin World of Ants i. 41 At some point there seems to be a brake on the stigmergicprocess when the stimulation has gone beyond a certain stage.
> 1971 E. O. Wilson Insect Societies xi. 229/2 Stigmergic responses are evidently major elements in nest construction by social insects.
> (Hide quotations)
>
> —snip—
>
> I’m sorry if this seems blunt or unpromising, but it’s better to get your research questions clear at the start.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ken
>
> Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | 设计 She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Tongji University in Cooperation with Elsevier | URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
>
> Chair Professor of Design Innovation Studies | College of Design and Innovation | Tongji University | Shanghai, China ||| University Distinguished Professor | Centre for Design Innovation | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia
>
> Email [log in to unmask] | Academia http://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman | D&I http://tjdi.tongji.edu.cn
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
> Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|