Robots forming human-like societies - electronic evolution? // Current

[Nick Thompson]

Dear All,

 

I guess my naive question here is, Were the robots, as such, necessary.  Is there anything you can do with robots that you can't do with netlogo .... well, except have the scratch your back, or something.  Anything of THEORETICAL significance?

 

http://current.com/items/90119924_robots-forming-human-like-societies-electronic-evolution.htm

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,

Clark University ([hidden email])

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

 

 

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[John Kennison]

Nick,

It seems to me that a negotiating model assumes that the robots have an agreed upon method of communication, which includes transmitting of offers. Also, it is assumed that we have a model of each robot's position, which might be simplified to something like 'the robot moves to the place where another robot suggested there was food'. As I read this article, the robots have lights and light-sensors, an ability to physically move and to switch lights off and on, and a program which determines how it does these things. So methods of communication must evolve and decisions such as 'move to where another robot indicated food' must be expressed as specific physical motions.

Two questions arise: Does the resulting evolution of the physical robots reflect anything that would be suggested by examining models of negotiating strategies. The answer seems to be yes, very much so. The other question is whether all of the behavior exhibited by robots is predictable by such models. Or is it the case that the physical set up has possibilities that we would almost certainly overlook no matter how we tried to define some negotiating entities. This still seems to be open.

---John  
 
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From: [hidden email] [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Thompson [[hidden email]]
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Subject: [FRIAM] Robots forming human-like societies - electronic evolution?    // Current

Dear All,

I guess my naive question here is, Were the robots, as such, necessary.  Is there anything you can do with robots that you can't do with netlogo .... well, except have the scratch your back, or something.  Anything of THEORETICAL significance?

http://current.com/items/90119924_robots-forming-human-like-societies-electronic-evolution.htm


Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University ([hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>)
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/





============================================================
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