🚀 go-pugleaf

[From Fred Nickols (990422.1832)] --

The comments below turned up in another list where I play.  I seem to
recall a reference to this by Bill P at some point a while back.  In any
event, do any bona fide PCTers care to comment on the description below?

>Herbert Simon, in his monograph "Sciences of the Artificial," uses the
>example of the path taken by an ant attempting to get back to its home.
>Its path -- an erratic, almost random-looking one -- cannot be understood
>from looking within the ant (assuming one could do so.)  Within the ant
>are simply a goal (to get home) and some capabilities (leg strength,
>etc.), none of which help us much in understanding why the ant is taking
>this particular path.  No, to understand this particular path one must
>look primarily at the environment outside the ant -- what terrain, what
>obstructions lie in the ant's straight-line path toward home?  Put
>together an understanding of the "task environment" and the ant's few
>relevant capabilities, then you'll understand why it turned left here
>(obstruction too steep to crawl over), went right there (downhill slope),
>etc.

Regards,

Fred Nickols
Distance Consulting "Assistance at A Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm
nickols@worldnet.att.net
(609) 490-0095