These findings suggest that we behave in a manner very similar to that defined by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_colony_optimization .
The layperson's explanation of the ant-pathfinding algorithm is simply, "The more ants that travel down a path, the more ants will travel down that path."
If there is an obstacle to food-gathering, and two equivalent ways to get around it (ie a Buridan's ass situation), if a majority of ants prefer one path to another, the majority of ants will follow, creating a positive feedback loop for the one path and a negative feedback loop for the other.
Much like our music-selection choices, apparently!
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These findings suggest that we behave in a manner very similar to that defined by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_colony_optimization . The layperson's explanation of the ant-pathfinding algorithm is simply, "The more ants that travel down a path, the more ants will travel down that path." If there is an obstacle to food-gathering, and two equivalent ways to get around it (ie a Buridan's ass situation), if a majority of ants prefer one path to another, the majority of ants will follow, creating a positive feedback loop for the one path and a negative feedback loop for the other. Much like our music-selection choices, apparently!