Communication is Coordinated Behaviour
We often think that communication refers to the transmission of information. And then we try to understand the different purposes of communication like persuasion, shared understanding and evoking of some desired action. However, when we see and understand communication among the birds, bees and ants we begin to appreciate a new perspective.
Maturana the Chilean biologist and philosopher stated,
“…communication is not a transmission of information but rather a coordination of behaviour between living organisms…”
Honey bees are very smart creatures. And they demonstrate this intelligence, for instance, during winter. Honeybees are susceptible to extreme winter conditions. And therefore, finding a suitable site for a bee hive colony during winter becomes a life and death situation. There is no opportunity for a second chance.
So, the bees who are specialists in scouting go out in search of appropriate sites. These scouting bees are small in number. When they return they communicate with the other bees, through a ‘waggle’ (“figure of eight”) dance, on the suitability of the sites they have individually visited. The more suitable the scouting bee believes her site to be, the more vigorous her dance is. If the scouting bee feels her site is less suitable her dance is less vigorous and more subdued. Now each of the more suitable sites are visited by each of the scouting bees. If they are convinced about the suitability of a particular site versus the site they have already visited then their dance becomes more vigorous and through this process, gradually a consensus emerges regarding which site should be chosen for the bee hive colony.
Similarly, in search of feeding sites, the same procedure is followed; only this time it is done by the bees specialised in foraging. They bring back nectar and pollen to show that their communication is not about a hive site but a feeding site. And their waggle dance depicts the quantity and quality of food available. The communication among the bees coordinates the behaviour of the whole colony in search of hive sites or feeding sites.
Among ants too we find that when an ant finds a new source of food then it creates a pheromone trail as it carries the food back to their nest. Other ants soon find this pheromone trail and follow it and soon there emerges a line of ants carrying food back to their nest. Only ants carrying food drop pheromone trails. When a food source dries up the pheromone trail stops.
Sometimes there are ants who stray off course and wander around aimlessly. In an experiment conducted by ant researcher Jean — Louis Deneubourg, a poor food source was placed near the nest of ants and a rich food source some distance away from the same nest of ants. The ants found the poor food source soon enough and the pheromone trails to it were formed by a regiment of ants marching to a drumbeat of their own. However, the ants who strayed away eventually found the richer source of food and dropped a richer pheromone trail. Soon the pheromone trail to the poorer food source started dwindling as the ants switched to the trail leading to the richer food source.
Freedom to explore and tinker around can lead to richer discoveries. Behaviour is coordinated through communication to achieve a better outcome. The pheromone trail and the waggle dance are the language of communication in the case of the bees and ants.
We also see this coordination of behaviour in the V formation of swans, geese, cranes, pelicans and flamingos. According to a Swedish research study, this V-formation enhances communication and coordination within the flock, allowing birds to improve their orientation and follow their route more directly.
In the case of birds Maturana narrates a fascinating example of African parrots. These birds live in dense forests. So, there is very little possibility of visual contact. Yet parrot couples create their own unique song which they use as a means for coordinating their mating ritual. In this song each partner alternatively expands on the other’s phrases. It looks and sounds like one melody but in fact is a perfect duet which is unique to this couple and will not be passed onto the next generation. Each couple needs to find their own unique and characteristic song as they go about coordinating with each other in their mating ritual. We too need to find our own unique song to sing with the one we love. The song of the birds is the language of communication which coordinates their behaviour.
This is very akin to what happens in Jazz. Jazz is like an ongoing conversation between a team of musicians. Very little is planned while most of it improvised. For a tune to come alive in Jazz it needs to have a musical key, a tempo or rhythm and a chorus or ‘head’ around which improvisation takes place. Each musician plays his solo around the ‘head’ for any period of time and when he is done he reduces the intensity of his playing and points or nods to the next player to take over and improvise his unique solo. At the end of each solo the audience applauds. And at the end of all the solos the chorus is played once again. Jazz musicians sometimes turn up on stage and play a whole evening together without ever having met each other before. They agree on a few basics to coordinate their behaviour and create their own unique song.
We see this in the field of team sports like football or hockey or basketball. We see this in dance. We see this in groups working on projects. We see this in organisations. We see this in relationships. We see effective communication continuously coordinating behaviour. We can sense which organisations are humming in harmony and which are playing discordant music. We need to continuously check our communication to see if we are making music which is fulfilling or jarring. Helping to coordinate or dis-coordinate.
