Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Getting Around in the World

It seems that both humans and animals forage like this:
What they have found is that when moving with a purpose such as foraging for food, many creatures follow a particular and shared pattern. They walk (or wing or lope) for a short time in one direction, scouring the ground for edibles, then turn and start moving in another direction for a short while, before turning and strolling or flying in another direction yet again. This is a useful strategy for finding tubers and such, but if maintained indefinitely brings creatures back to the same starting point over and over; they essentially move in circles.

So most foragers and predators occasionally throw in a longer-distance walk (or flight), which researchers refer to as a “long step,” bringing them into new territory, where they then return to short walks and frequent turns as they explore the new place.

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It might be what we now call disciplinary work is "short walk" thinking, while interdisciplinary work additionally involves "long step" -- ie making an analogical leap from one discipline or field to another .
    Any thoughts? & Happy New Leaps -- even if it isn't a Leap Year -- too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, my far fetched analogy was to music and getting around in "harmonic" territory. Short walk = movement within one key. Long walk = movement from one key to another.

      Delete
    2. Yes, I like it.

      Expanded my own thoughts at http://zenpundit.com/?p=30581.

      Delete