by KFC, Technology Review
Some 15 years ago, the American political scientist Robert Axelrod put forward a remarkable model of the way cultural diversity persists in society. His idea was that people are more likely to interact with others like them. The more similar two people are, the more likely they are to adopt each other’s traits. That’s how traits spread but it is also why diversity persists. Since then, the power and simplicity of Axelrod’s approach has led complexity theorists to study numerous variations on the original theme. The model lends itself to computer simulation because people can be modelled as nodes on a grid influenced by those closest to them. Whatever the starting conditions, a computer can go through through millions of iterations to see how traits spread.
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27507/?p1=blogs
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