Communication Network of the Superorganism

Abstract

Clearly, communication is essential in a superorganism. It is achieved via chemical, acoustic, and other sensory signals (Lindauer 1961; Prosser 1986). Yet, understanding all modes of individual communication resulting in a coordinated system is complex because of the large number of individuals involved. The analysis of complex communication systems has a history in the sociometric era of the 1930s to the 1950s (Moreno 1934; Simmel 1964). Using general systems theory and dynamic communication links, modern researchers in the discipline of the social sciences show how network analysis aids in understanding processes of mutual exchange of information in complex populations. They also show that any simple individualistic concept must fail if one wants to understand the more complex group. The term, communication, is defined as a process in which participants create and share information with one another and reach a consensus (Rogers and Kincaid 1981). The key in the network analysis is derived from systems analysis and cybernetics and does not distinguish between source and receiver but focuses on communication among “transceivers” as carrying on mutual exchange.

No life lives unto itself alone; each is an intrinsic part of all; each administering to its own needs while perpetuating the entirety. (G. Frostic 1981)