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From: "Craig W. Reynolds" <cwr@red.com>
Subject: Re: Death of programmers?
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai.alife:8301 comp.ai.genetic:12159

The Walrus wrote:
> Bob Mottram wrote:
> > I could imagine completely deterministic environments in which
> > emergent effects could still take place.  Many CA based
> > simulations are largely (some degree of randomness in action
> > selection) or completely (actions chosen according to some
> > definite rule) deterministic.  The 'game of life' is certainly
> > such an environment.
> 
> Hold on! ...  Below is your example of emergent behaviour occuring
> in an environment which could only be described (using your own
> definitions) as "largely deterministic":
> 
> > ...Take the BEAM robot 'MiniBall' for example...  This is a
> > classic emergent effect based on random motion.
> 
> Where then, is your example of emergent behaviour occuring in a
> "completely deterministic" environment?

I guess its all a matter of which definitions you choose to accept.
But for example, the boids model of flocking is generally regarded as
an instance of emergence (of flocking at the level of the group) from a
set of completely deterministic rules (at the level of the individual
"boid").  The applet on this page:

  http://hmt.com/cwr/boids.html

uses randomization only to initialize the position of the boids on the
first time step.  All of the improvisational motion that follows is
generated by rules that are completely deterministic.  When a complex
adaptive system is poised "on the edge of chaos" (to use Langton's
phrase) there is no need to artificially impose randomness to obtain
unexpected/unpredictable life-like behavior.

> walrus.

Goo Goo G'joob!
