Knowledge Sharing

Only a miracle can transform Homo Sapiens into Homo Sharing

Towards a Fourth Generation Pattern Language: Patterns as Epistemic Threads

Our examination of the relationship between pattern languages and systemic constraints upon change is informed by the concept of stigmergy: indirect coordination of action among different agents based on the changes they make in the landscape.³³ Francis Heylighen describes how agents shape their environment, or medium, as their tracks aggregate and consolidate, up to a point where the medium itself becomes the mediator that directs the agents.³⁴ For example, ants leave pheromone traces on the ground to direct others to food sources, creating a positive feedback loop as the pheromone signal strengthens with increased traffic and in turn attracts more ants. Similarly, cross-country trails start as barely distinguishable paths made by the first people to walk them, become more visible as people travel them and eventually become persistent roads and highways that funnel the majority of traffic. Heylighen notes that the medium effectively manages communication processes, retaining the most useful pathways while the others are abandoned.