Mirta Galesic will present a talk on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at 3 PM in the Salon.
If you would like to join the talk, please send an email to office@csh.ac.at.
Title: “Beyond Collective Intelligence: Collective Adaptation”
Abstract:
Mirta will describe a conceptual framework for studying collective adaptation, the dynamic interplay of collective belief systems and cognitive strategies, network structures, and problems that collectives face. Going beyond static portrayals of “intelligent” or “stupid” collectives, this framework stresses the importance of path dependence, satisficing, and collective myopia for understanding the sometimes counterintuitive outcomes of collective adaptation. This is important in our turbulent world in which collectives face diverse and rapidly changing challenges from pandemics to new technologies. After providing an overview of the relevant literatures in different disciplines, I will outline possible research directions within this framework, including investigating how people adapt their social cognitions and network structures in response to important problems, and how they develop and adapt their beliefs about what problems are important.
Reference: Galesic, M., Barkoczi, D., Berdahl, A., Biro, D., Carbone, G., Giannoccaro, I., Goldstone, R., Gonzalez, C., Kandler, A., Kao, A., Kendal, R., Kline, M., Lee, E., Massari, G.F., Mesoudi, A., Olsson, H., Pescetelli, N., Sloman, S., Smaldino, P.E., Stein, D.L. (in press). Beyond Collective Intelligence: Collective Adaptation. Journal of Royal Society Interface. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsif.2022.0736
Bio:
Mirta has been co-leader of the group Collective Adaptation at the Complexity Science Hub, together with Henrik Olsson, since 2023. She is also Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, External Faculty at the Vermont Complex Systems Center, UVM as well as an Associate Researcher at the Harding Center for Risk Literacy and a non-resident system thinking expert at the United States Institute of Peace. Mirta studies how simple cognitive mechanisms interact with social and physical environments to produce seemingly complex social phenomena. Her projects focus on developing empirically grounded computational models of social judgments, social learning, collective problem solving, and opinion dynamics. She is also interested in how people understand and cope with uncertainty and complexity inherent in many everyday decisions.