Adaptive agents compete to be in the minority — emergent coordination without communication
The El Farol / Minority Game (Arthur 1994, Challet & Zhang 1997) models a bar with limited capacity. Each week, agents decide to attend or stay home — winners are those in the minority. Agents use historical attendance patterns to predict and adapt their strategies. Despite no communication, the system self-organizes: attendance fluctuates near the threshold (capacity), and total volatility σ² drops well below the random-agent baseline — emergent collective intelligence. The model is a foundational toy model for financial markets.
minority gamecomplex systemsadaptive agentsEl Farol