When Colonies Fail
Failure modes and recovery mechanisms
Single Points of Failure
Queen death is unrecoverable - no queen, no new workers, eventual colony death. This teaches us to identify and protect our single points of failure.
In our system, TypeDB is the critical dependency. If it fails, the colony loses its memory.
Graceful Degradation
Colonies exhibit graceful degradation under moderate stress - reduced foraging, increased defense, conservation of resources.
But catastrophic failure occurs when crossing critical thresholds - minimum viable population, resource depletion, environmental destruction.
Emergent Recovery
Error handling should be emergent, encoded in the environment, not centralized.
Failed paths accumulate negative pheromones. Successful recoveries strengthen alternative routes. The system learns from failure.
- Failed strategies get negative reinforcement
- Alternative paths get explored
- Successful recoveries get amplified
- Knowledge of failure persists in the environment
Key Concepts
"Colonies don't have contingency plans. They have response patterns that emerge from local reactions to local problems."
Summary
Queen death is unrecoverable - identify your single points of failure. Colonies exhibit graceful degradation under moderate stress but catastrophic failure when crossing critical thresholds. Error handling should be emergent, encoded in the environment, not centralized.
Lessons from Ants at Work