Compromise in Multi-Agent Blends

A blend is typically conceived as a systematic integration of conceptual spaces by a single cognitive agent for a particular pragmatic purpose. We consider here an interesting class of ‘macro’ blends that involve multiple cognitive agents, each of which contribute different spaces to the integration. Mythology is one such ‘macro’ type of blend, since rich mythic pantheons such as that of Hellenic Greece arise not as a product of individual design but from a complex cultural blend of different peoples with differing values and deities. Such multi-agent blends observe all the optimality principles of integration, but additionally exhibit pragmatic compromises that reflect the interactions of the social parties to the blend. In effect, a multi-agent conceptual blend is a conceptual by-product of a ‘physical blend’ of different cultural agents with different social goals. Taking classical mythology as our context, we identify a number of projection and composition strategies that operate within a multi-agent blend when those agents have different, often adversarial, preservation goals for the conceptual spaces they contribute.