(link to article)
Great article (I am a fan of most NPR stuff). The idea that one lone bacteria only sends out that beacon communication ("Hey! I'm over here") but as the colony grows, the amount of communicating grows--that really illustrates the idea of social capital, I think. As soon as that network of chemical language and back-and-forth ceases, it's just a group of bacteria as we've always envisioned them. But the idea of them working as a group really transforms their essence to most people, I would think.
Incidentally, I was led to this article, tangentially related to human interaction--a kind of surprising story, considering how alienated most people would consider typical urbanites. It's about a couple on an unofficial social study quest to see how many perfect strangers will let them try a bite of their food at a restaurant.
[hurray for networks! One led me to that second article]
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What would be interesting here is to know more of the 'calculations' people used to decide yes or no. I suspect you can't separate an answer from the context (i.e., who is asking for a bite of our food; type of restuarnt; exchanges among tables before request, etc.
I thought the idea of bacteria communicating as a "social" group was fascinating too. It demonstrates how little we know about how the rest of the non-human world connects with one another.
The social experiment about asking others if you can taste their food is very funny. People seem to be very trusting and will do nearly anything. This weekend when I was at ACL I was waiting at the port-a-potty line and I told the woman in front of me that I would watch her stuff. When she came out, she said that when she got in there she started wondering if she should be so trusting. Like Dr. R says, much depended on the context. I guess I look pretty harmless and trustworthy.
The social experiment on trust and Linda’s anecdote brought to mind this blog with its Buddhist-like “Eight Principles of Slow Leadership:” http://www.slowleadership.org/2006/06/building-trust.html
These principles apply to corporate management certainly apply to building communities, as well. From everything we’re reading, time is one of the biggest factors in building community because it takes time to create relationships, establish trust, and begin to find and build upon a community's strengths.
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