aligning agents toward shared goals when actions are interdependent
cooperation asks why agents help each other. coordination asks how they synchronize
the theory
focal points (Schelling, 1960) — agents converge on shared expectations without communication. culture, convention, and salience guide choice
coordination graphs — model dependencies among agent actions in a network, allowing optimal joint decisions (max-plus, variable elimination)
mechanism design — design rules of the game so that self-interested agents produce socially optimal outcomes (Myerson, 1981)
common knowledge — coordination requires agents to know that others know the same thing (Lewis, 1969). shared state enables synchronized action
coordination failures
tragedy of the commons — shared resources deplete when agents optimize individually (Hardin, 1968)
prisoner's dilemma — mutual cooperation is optimal but individual defection is dominant
stag hunt — cooperation yields the best outcome but requires trust that others will cooperate too
information asymmetry — agents with private information make suboptimal collective decisions
in nature
flocking (Reynolds, 1987) — three local rules (separation, alignment, cohesion) produce global coordination without leaders
quorum sensing in bacteria — cells coordinate behavior through chemical signal thresholds
stigmergy in ant colonies — pheromone trails coordinate foraging without direct communication
in cyber
protocol mechanisms solve coordination at scale:
consensus: coordination on a single history of events
automated market maker: coordination on value measurements through liquidity
auction: coordination on value establishment through competitive bidding
cybernet: cooperative games optimizing for positive-sum outcomes (yuma)
prediction markets: coordination on future states through skin-in-the-game forecasting
governance: coordination on rule changes through collective decision-making
the cybergraph itself is a coordination tool: each cyberlink is a public signal that guides others. stigmergy at planetary scale
see collective for the four collective processes. see egregore for the broader framework