Re: of(f) course

["Bruce Gregory" <gregory@cf4.harvard.edu> (by way of Vanessa StevensColella)]

> No such thing as a silly question.  In fact, one of the things that I think
> makes learning about  emergent systems challenging is developing an
> intution for why the "average" is not always the result.
>
> -- Vanessa

In the emergent system flying the airplane, one reason control
is maintained might be that the moment the plane starts to move
left or right there is a good reason for everyone to support
rather than to fight that motion. (Otherwise a crash is likely.)
If, on the other hand, participants could not see the results of
their collective actions, the "average" might well be the
result.

Bruce Gregory