Steve, you perhaps accidentally point out what in my opinion is the primary weakness of this so-called "Complexity" group. That weakness being, again solely in my opinion, an inability or perhaps an unwillingness to face the real substantive, important complexity issues that surround us.
Instead, the group nearly always proposes to study some superficial abstract, academic side issue. It doesn't seem to matter what the particular "complexity" issue du Jour is, the "solution" proposed, but never implemented by the members of this list is *always* some abstract, distancing, academic approach. Not that I am picking on you, really I am not. But seriously, are you proposing to use an ABM to explain the societal effects of religious fundamentalism? That would be a side show. It would place a level of abstraction between the real issue and the observer which would totally mask the underlying causal issues. Those issues, of course, being the irrational, hateful, harmful effects of mass adherence to narrow, fundamental religious dogma, plus whatever the deep underlying psychological urges are that constantly seem to draw whole populations into those belief systems. You don't need an ABM to illustrate that; you need a few good history books. And if you want to understand why people are so prone to locking themselves into destructive, exclusive, egocentric world-views, well, good luck with that. I suspect however that game theoretics and ABMs are not the proper tools for the job. --Doug On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 7:16 AM, Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote: > Hussein - > > I hear you... many of us are challenged to defend the name of our God or > our Faith or our gender or our cultural or genetic heritage or sexual > orientation or hair color or set of our jaw. Even when obviously (but > superficially?) motivated, these are false challenges and to accept them is > a fools game. > > The shrill voices against Islam (or even "ahem" Mormons) are not helping, > even if some who act in it's name are doing horrific things. Those who > paint with a broad brush can only slop their own paint on themselves... > > From much distance at all, everyone else looks like "other". > > I'm often disappointed with this list (myself included) that we invoke the > terms of Complexity Science but don't often take it anywhere. > > Is there a game theoretic model, or more to the point, an agent model > based on game theoretic principles that might help to illuminate this > phenomenon? The phenomena of personal vs shared belief, sectarianism, > intolerance? Is there a small subset (in the spirit of the oft-cited MOTH > strategy for prisoner's dilemma) of the phenomena that can show a bit of it? > > - Steve > > > > > > > > > > -- > Los Alamos Visualization Associates > LAVA-Synergy > 4200 W. Jemez rd > Los Alamos, NM 87544www.lava3d.comsas@lava3d.com505-920-0252 > > > ============================================================ > 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 > -- Doug Roberts drobe...@rti.org d...@parrot-farm.net http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
============================================================ 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
