Can the study of swarm intelligence in animals allow us to harness similar benefits in human society? Can animals give us insight into the evolutionary origins of extremism? Can we find a way to avoid increasing polarization, collective inaction and stupidity? Is the science of collective behavior now a crisis discipline, essential to achieve ethical stewardship of contemporary human society?

Every decision we make in our lives is influenced by, and in turn influences, the decisions of others. Collective behavior is, therefore, integral to every aspect of our personal and professional ives. But does this make us smarter? Elon Musk wrote “Because it consists of billions of bidirectional interactions per day, Twitter can be thought of as a collective, cybernetic, super intelligence”. Yet, even to the sympathetic observer it is clear that social media can foster polarisation, distrust and even extremism. The truth is that we still know remarkably little about how to harness the benefits of collective action while simultaneously avoiding what can become catastrophic acts of collective stupidity. Doing so, however, will prove essential if we are to find solutions to many of the most pressing global issues we face, including promoting human well-being, avoiding escalation of conflicts, and effective management of our planetary health.

The study of animal collectives, such as hordes of ravenous locusts, schools of darting fish and mesmerising ‘murmurations’ of starlings, can provide essential insights into how collective action emerges from individual behaviours and interactions. By considering collectives as complex adaptive systems principles of collective intelligence—that could impact our lives in numerous ways—may come to light.

This event is an initiative by the Dutch Institute for Emergent Phenomena (DIEP) with the support of NWA Route 2. Science & Cocktails Amsterdam is presented in cooperation with Paradiso Amsterdam.

Photo: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior & University of Konstanz, Germany