Theory 15/Collective behaviour
Colony Choice Needs a Quorum
The claim
Ant colony decision accuracy is set by the ratio of quorum threshold to recruitment rate, so a low threshold commits too early and a slow recruitment reaches it too late.
01Mechanism
Recruitment amplifies support for one option while a quorum rule ends deliberation; the ratio sets the speed-accuracy operating point.
02Predictions
- P1Accuracy should peak at an intermediate ratio.
- P2Colony size alone should mispredict.
03Refutation
Accuracy increasing with colony size would remove the threshold.
04Why it resists the grid
The decision is made by no individual, and the mechanism is a threshold rule embedded in a network rather than in a brain.