Finally some progress on the programming front. I’ve put all the basic pieces in place for a spacial agent-based model. The sketch consists of a square grid that spaces itself dynamically depending on the size entered in the parameters of the sketch. Likewise, a user-variable number of agents appear as circles on the grid and [...]

Continuing with my study of general algorithms: Uninformed Search (These are “dumb” methods – using brute force calculation.) Depth-First Search: Begin at the starting node of a decision tree and follow one branch as deep as it goes. Then back up and follow the next branch, continuing until a solution node is found. Not optimal [...]

I really wanted to take this course AFTER Nature of Code (Dan Shiffman’s signature course which covers the simulation of physical systems and moves from there to intentional agents and neural networks) as an overview and primer. Unfortunately fate and the class-selection algorithm conspired against me – ironic, since my main reason for studying at [...]

Research Plan The overarching goal is to explore the dynamics of a hypothetical decentralized decision-making process through the lens of agent-based modeling. By the end of the semester I would like to have a model which includes a spontaneously-generating social graph and a dynamic, scalar decision-making process. Fundamental Challenge: How to measure the results? Baysian [...]

            The literature is older than I imagined. The first agent-based examination of a social phenomenon, Thomas Schelling’s “Models of Segregation,” was published in 1969. Though the limitations of computing power in that era inhibited the growth of the field, a steady stream of work continued to emerge. The field [...]