Vladamir wrote --
I must be the first ever to wish to program stupid autonomous agents!
On the contrary, Vladamir. It is their stupidity that makes autonomous agents
so theoretically endearing.
Thanks for stirring us all up!
Nick
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University ([email protected])
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
http://www.cusf.org [City University of Santa Fe]
----- Original Message -----
From: Ted Carmichael
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Sent: 3/23/2010 8:33:04 AM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] How to Begin?
That actually sounds cool. There's probably a lot of potential to work on
stuff that includes cognitive biases and group think and such. You ever read
Richard Feynman's take on the Challenger disaster? Might be a good reference
for you ... probably, you can find it in one of his books, where he talks about
it at length. It's an interesting story in and of itself.
Have fun!
-Ted
On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:22 AM, Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky <[email protected]>
wrote:
Thanks for the responses and the advice, I hope to work my way through the
unusual protocols. I am trying to reply to Stephen Thompson and Ted Carmichael.
I could not find a Reply button on the Friam newsgroup pages.
You could say I have a pretty classic (Basic) background in Biology and
Engineering. I have always been very uneasy with the concept of species and
groups in general.
I have run into a few examples in entomology that seem to bend the rules quite
a bit and then there are the orchid hybrids that seem to make a mockery of
speciation.
I am interested in the phenomenon of Group Thinking Amusingly I dispute the
existence of groups and thinking in this case. Perhaps the observer had an
unintentional bias. I recently heard of a psychological situation referred to
as the Abilene Experiment I hope I got it right. I would like to play with
the agents to reproduce bizarre human social behavior.
This may seem flaky but I would love to work with defective agents that appear
externally normal.
Coming from years of engineering work I am always amazed at the nature of
accidents, complex system failures. Inevitably people seem to be at fault
because they believed they were right at the wrong time. Even after an accident
they insist some one else was to blame. Perfectly sane people believe in the
most absurd ideas at the wrong time. It has made me suspect that there is a
limit to how complex any system can get before it collapses, which has
frightening implications.
Well thanks gentlemen and I will report back on my progress with NetLogo. I
must be the first ever to wish to program stupid autonomous agents!
Dr.Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky
Ph.D.(Civil Eng.), M.Sc.(Mech.Eng.), M.Sc.(Biology)
120-1053 Beaverhill Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2J 3R2
(204) 2548321 Phone/Fax
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Stephen Thompson
Sent: March 21, 2010 9:40 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] How to Begin?
Vladimyr:
I am a lurker on this site listening to interesting ideas. I recently started
looking into
agent-based systems. I started out with a Teaching Company lecture series
entitled
Understanding Complexity by Prof Scott Page. He is a visiting Prof at Sante
Fe.
The course is just introductory content without any computational exercises.
(www.TeachingCompany.com) Its a great introduction to the field. Its a nice
way
pass the morning commute.
Dr Page suggested the following books as well:
> Agent-Based Models by Nigel Gilbert
> Simulation for the Social Scientist by Nigel Gilbert and Klaus G Troitzsch
> Complexity A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell
I added another book Dr. Page was too modest to suggest:
> Complex Adaptive Systems: An Into to Computational Models of Social Life.
by John Miller and Scott Page.
I also downloaded the NetLogo system, but as yet have not installed it.
I recently came across a web-site by a regular member of this forum,
Owen Densmore. Its at
http://complexityworkshop.com/
I have not explored it yet.
My background is in mortgage finance. Sorry nothing interesting like default
swaps, just old fashioned commercial mortgage loans. I recently completed a
degree in software engineering so I am looking forward to the programming
aspects
of agents. I do this on my own time, so I have been focusing on more of the
background before I start the computational aspects.
Steph T
Ted Carmichael wrote:
Hey, Vladimyr -
I'm not in Santa Fe - I'm at UNC Charlotte, near the other coast - but I also
work with complex systems and such. If you're not familiar with it, NetLogo is
an excellent toolset for rapid prototyping of agent-based systems. They
continually update it, it's free, and there's tons of support, so you can learn
programming pretty easily in it.
A good book might be M. Mitchell's newest: Complexity: A Guided Tour. Well
written and thorough. Also, I always recommend Steve Johnson's Emergence: The
Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. A little more towards
the general audience, but some excellent examples of CAS.
I'm sure others will have some good recommends as well.
Good luck!
-Ted
On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 7:00 PM, Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hi,
I am interested in communicating with people already working with Complexity.
As a scientist formerly working in epidemiology and more recently in robotics,
I have become increasingly interested in Non-linear problems.
Unfortunately my background is basically inappropriate and would like a little
advice on how to get set up working with Autonomous Agents.
Hopefully, some one can provide a little guidance. My background is rather
complex and does include some programming efforts over the years but AA is a
big leap from machine motion programs. Some day I may be able to make a
significant contribution to the field using my few talents.
I would like to travel to Santa Fe and listen in on your lecture series.
Vladimyr
Dr.Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky
Ph.D.(Civil Eng.), M.Sc.(Mech.Eng.), M.Sc.(Biology)
120-1053 Beaverhill Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2J 3R2
(204) 2548321 Phone/Fax
[email protected]
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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============================================================
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
