Fireflies
Nature has the best algorithms, don't it folks?<p>I have a question about a detail.<p>The rule is:<p>1. When you see a nearby neighbour flash, nudge your own clock forward.<p>2. That's it.<p>My question is -- when the fireflies are firing at the same time, they see each other flash, so they all nudge their clocks forward, correct?<p>Assuming they don't nudge their clocks forward at the same amount, they would fall out of sync, correct? But they stay in sync, so they must nudge forward at the same amount...is this right?<p>So my question is -- if everyone keeps nudging their clocks forward, why don't they keep speeding up? They do appear instead to continue flashing at the same steady rate.<p>Does this mean that there ought to be another detail in the rule, such as,<p>If you see a neighbour nearby flash, when you are not flashing, nudge your clock forward by a bit.<p>? Or is the perspective I just said missing something?