Behavior
Distributed Intelligence
Intelligence that emerges from interactions among many simple components rather than residing in a single centralized processor.
Biological Context
Ant colonies solve problems no individual ant could solve. Immune systems recognize threats through distributed cell interactions. Even octopus arms have significant local processing. Distributed intelligence trades speed for robustness and parallel processing.
Business Application
Organizational distributed intelligence: empowering local decision-making while maintaining coordination. The challenge is getting the right balance between centralized direction and distributed adaptation.