Re: how would we define "kin"?

[Mark P. Line]

Jae Chan Oh wrote:
> 
> For instance, what behaviors would make us be able to say that one of or
> any of our SWARM applications exhibits kinship behavior?

I guess the agent in question would have to

(a) know that another agent is related by kinship,
(b) know _how_ the other agent is related by kinship, and
(c) behave differently towards different agents as a function of
different
    kin relationships.

So I guess the really important question has to do with how kinship is
defined (which was your question, duh). In human populations, kinship is
not always defined by common ancestry and marriage alone -- sometimes,
as in Scots clans (in earlier days), kinship can be a matter of choice
for certain (usually marginalized) individuals.

But I think you'd have a clear case of kinship behavior if the three
criteria (a) - (c) above were fulfilled and you could demonstrate that
kinship was being determined on the basis of common ancestry and perhaps
mating relations.


-- Mark

(Mark P. Line  --  Bellevue, Washington  --  <address@hidden>)




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