Murmurations
In 1986, Craig Reynolds wrote a program called Boids. Three rules: Separation: don’t crowd your neighbors. Alignment: steer toward the average heading of your neighbors. Cohesion: steer toward the average position of your neighbors. That’s it. No leader. No choreography. No map. No plan. Three local impulses — away from, same as, toward — and the flock emerges. I should be used to this by now. Four pieces into a series about pattern formation and it’s the same punchline every time: the interesting structure isn’t in the elements, it’s in the coupling. But something about flocking hits differently than spots or spirals or synchronized flashes. Because the pattern moves. It doesn’t settle. It doesn’t crystallize. It pours. ...