Recently a colleague bought a book from McKee named
"Story" [1], an interesting book about stories and
screenwriting. I wonder if such books can offer us advice
on how to construct good ABMs?
The difference seem to be that a story has a plot. It is
often about a single protagonist, usually a hero which makes
some kind of journey or quest (see [2]). A hero receives a call
to an adventure, starts a journey, goes through certain
stages, meets some tests, allies and enemies along the
way, all with a function and purpose. Finally he approaches
the innermost cave, gets the reward and returns.
ABMs consist of multiple protagonists, which interact
with each other at the same time. In this sense they
are more like a play from a playwright like Shakespeare:
we witness the outcome of a small number of agents or
actors interacting with each other in a particular
environment according to certain rules and intentions.
What they have in common is that a story and an ABM should
have a meaning. A story has usually a message or a meaning,
it should answer some universal question. The ABM should
explain a pattern, behavior, structure or property of the
system. And in both cases, the writer or modeler creates
one of many possible worlds. All stories take place in a
small little world created by the writer.
What do you think? Can books about stories be helpful
in constructing interesting ABMs? McKee for instance
proposes to create an outline. He also says that conflict
is the essence of drama and change. Does every ABM
has a basic conflict, too?
-J.
[1] Robert McKee, "Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of
Screenwriting"
[2] Christopher Vogler, "The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers"
============================================================
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
Locked
