Swarm Logic

swarm logic (SWOHRM law.jik) n. The process by which a large number of unintelligent entities can, by working together without central direction, produce intelligent action.

There is a phenomenon we know as "emergence." It has a potential for amazing creativity. If we look at the world of insects, we see it in a swarm. Tens of thousands of initially dislocated little intelligences suddenly come together in a cloud and begin to move in concert. The otherwise chaotic individuals combine into a force that determines a single outcome.

Presently, the Internet is proving to be a swarming mechanism. Potentially billions of people are becoming interconnected in an unprecedented way. And it has no discernible ultimate direction. It is not known to the participants what will emerge from this massive interactivity, but out of the chaos we have already seen the emergence of creative new possibilities.

In fact, it is the biggest revolution in global thinking since the printing press was unleashed. It will utterly change the way everything is done. But is there a logic to it? Can any of the emergent behavior be predictable? Scientists are looking at these possibilities. Because what if we could control outcomes? What if we could steer toward beneficial new realities?

There is, in the Bible, the always interesting story of the Tower of Babel. It was an early example of human swarming. For some reason, the minds of the people became fused in one unified creative effort. It is also interesting that God decided to crash the party.

Genesis 11:
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

We see here that the swarming had a potential that made nothing impossible. We can only speculate as to why God busted this swarm: perhaps it was a timing issue. Yet it is interesting we have this same emergent potential in the world today. A kind of global mind-meld that makes us wonder: "What will be the outcome?"

But how will this phenomenon of swarming emergence affect the church? Or better, where will it propel the church? It is certain that the times they are a-changing....fast.

In the past, swarms tended to grow around leaders, and I'm not saying that tendency will go away. Consider Pentecostalism that did not arise around strong leadership but around a communal discovery of a long-ignored feature of the original Christian faith: charisma. It developed into a swarm that literally blanketed the earth.

In a way, a swarm is a bit like a baby developing in the womb. Its structure emerges. The church is in pain. Something is in the womb, developing. But we don't see its full shape yet. It is only an embryo.

When this swarm comes together it will be unprecedented in its creativity and impact. But it isn't going to look anything like the structure we are used to. That structure is ready to be demolished, and it will happen before the inexorable path of the coming swarm.