It also simulated conflict between various entities, allowing squares to take over nearby squares, determining victory based on the area each entity controlled, and thus growing the sizes of empires. Over time, the model allowed for domesticated horses to spread between adjacent squares. They then “seeded” military technology in squares adjacent to the grasslands of central Asia, because the domestication of horses-the dominant military technology of the age-likely arose there initially. … they divided all of Africa and Eurasia into gridded squares which were each categorized by a few environmental variables (the type of habitat, elevation, and whether it had agriculture in 1500 B.C.E.). It’s got a lot more rules, but the basics are similar: So, he created a computer simulation not unlike The Game of Life. He wanted to understand how human societies, not just single organisms, grow and disperse. The rules in The Game of Life are much simpler than real-life’s actual rules (which we’re a long way from understanding in full), but the point stands that simple rules can produce a shocking amount of complexity and even the possibility of one of life’s hallmarks: reproduction.īy elaborating the rules governing the simulation, could other life-like processes also be modelled? Ecologist Peter Turchin has done just that. And, in fact, in 02010 a structure was created within the game by Andrew Wade capable of reproducing itself, much like the real-life molecules that eventually lead to all the living creatures on earth. This simple set-up, played out by the computer over many generations creates vast complexity that is hard to watch without thinking of life. Empty squares with the right number of neighbors come to life. Just a few simple rules determine cells’ behavior: Cells with too few or too many neighbors die. Each turn of the game is like a generation – some squares live, some are born, and some die. The game is made up of a grid of squares, or “cells,” in one of two states: “alive” or “dead.” A player sets the initial conditions, choosing which squares should be alive. The idea behind it was that the process of biological life is, despite its apparent complexity, reduceable to a finite set of rules. In 01970 John Conway developed a computer program called The Game of Life. Evolution Conway's Game of Life and Three Millennia of Human History
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