If ants can figure it out....why can't we?

I was intrigued by this NY Times article that talked about the ability of ants and other animals to move in groups. Doctors posit that it may be due to the fact that these animals are used to living in large groups, but are studying why.

"Dr. Couzin and his colleagues have built a model of the flow of information through swarms. Each individual has to balance two instincts: to stay with the group and to move in a desired direction. The scientists found that just a few leaders can guide a swarm effectively. They do not even need to send any special signals to the animals around them. They create a bias in the swarm’s movement that steers it in a particular direction.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean you have the right information, though,” Dr. Couzin pointed out.

Two leaders may try to pull a swarm in opposite directions, and yet the swarm holds together. In Dr. Couzin’s model, the swarm was able to decide which leaders to follow.

“As we increased the difference of opinion between the informed individuals, the group would spontaneously come to a consensus and move in the direction chosen by the majority,” Dr. Couzin said. “They can make these decisions without mathematics, without even recognizing each other or knowing that a decision has been made.” - via NY Times

Humans, the doctor says, are mediocre swarmers. He's been studying ants and their ability to form bridges - thousands of these ants seem to "know" where to swarm, form a bridge and move together effectively.

Whereas, on the other hand, I go into a crowded grocery store in my wheelchair and no one seems to be able to figure out where to go so I can get at the dairy counter. Now mind you, I'm not expecting people to "form a bridge" so I can roll over them (although that makes a nice image), nor do I expect a path to open up just for me immediately (just call me Moses!), but there's not even an ebb and flow, a give and take sometimes. Watching this makes it hard to believe that there's a swarming instinct in humans at all! Yet when I've been out with a number of friends in wheelchairs, I notice that it's easier to move in crowded spaces because, side by side, we are more visible. People are more likely to adjust their movement somewhat.

Maybe their swarm instinct takes over when they see a group of folks in wheelchairs. Or maybe those of us in wheelchairs just move better together when we're swarming. Let's face it: watching what goes on in a crowded grocery store doesn't say much for anyone's ability to move in groups, wheelchairs or not.

All I know is that when I leave the grocery store, I've often overheard people comment "Yeah it's crowded today. It's like a zoo."

That statement may be closer to the truth than we realize.