Steve, I confess that I enjoy rubbing their noses in their speculative circle-jerks, now and then.
Another topic: do you know Ed MacKerrow? --Doug On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 11:06 AM, Steve Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > Doug - > > Suzanne and I just watched Paper Chase (1973) again and were treated to the > dry commentary of John Hausman as curmudgeonly professor Kingsfield. Your > comment reminded me of the equally dry delivery he gave in a TV commercial > several years later for an investment house? where he uttered the line > > "We make money the old-fashioned way, we EARN it!" > > That noted, I would submit that the FRIAM list (and Friday kaffe klatch) > *IS* more about speculative discussion than it is about problem solving. I > find there is a delicate distinction between the interesting exploration of > ideas through group speculation and well... what I think we all know of as a > "circle jerk". I take this risk every time I let myself get drawn into a > thread. > > - Steve > > Has anybody just tried to design this application the old-fashioned way; > i.e., develop a set of requirements that > > - define the interactions between the components of the system, > - identify (clearly, no vagueness allowed) the desired results from > running the simulation, > - identify (clearly, no vagueness allowed) the inputs for the > simulation, and > > *then* determine what design best fits the application? > > Just asking, 'cause this thread so far sniffs out suspiciously like another > "I want to talk about how *I* want to think about how (in the purest > theoretical sense) simulations should be designed/implemented/thought of." > > Just asking... > > --Doug > > > As compared to endlessly seeing that special, elegant simulation > implementation system that is the ideal match to this particular problem > domain? > > On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 6:26 PM, russell standish > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:46:26PM -0500, Roger Critchlow wrote: >> > I don't think you'll find this because it implies programming a higher >> > purpose and allowing the agents to jump the rails, as it were, and start >> > negotiating their way through the combinatorics of alternative networks. >> > Similarly, you won't find models in which agents invent new inputs to >> > monitor, new outputs to generate, and new rules which involve new inputs >> and >> > new outputs. >> > >> > Optimization within a fixed solution space, which is what we do when we >> let >> > agents play with the flow through a fixed network or let them search out >> the >> > most profitable rules in a set of prespecified alternatives, gets hairy >> > enough without opening things up to the infinity of potential solutions >> that >> > we didn't have time to program into the model ourselves. >> > >> >> EcoLab is an example of a model where the state space evolves over >> time rather than staying fixed. It is not quite the ABM that Russ >> Abbott is looking for, but does illustrate that it is possible. One >> crucial feature is that there must be a separation of scales - the >> dynamics of the system (optimisation, or whatever) must occur more >> rapidly than the change to the state space. Otherwise, you get what is >> known in the ALife world as a mutational meltdown - evolution ceases >> to operate. >> >> -- >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) >> Mathematics >> UNSW SYDNEY 2052 [email protected] >> Australia http://www.hpcoders.com.au >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> > > ------------------------------ > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > -- Doug Roberts [email protected] [email protected] 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
