Phagocytosis

[PurpleYouko]

Know only computer science (incl. math) counts for me!

That's the spirit!

Start delving into physics and you soon realize that you are in a bottomless pit that gets exponentially wider and more complex, the deeper you go.

The whole concept of simple basic rules of the universe is laughable.

What you have to settle for are simple abstractions that describe most of the universe.

Newtonian Physics fits that profile nicely.

[Greven]

Well in a couple of decades (century...?) maybe the computers will found about how the univers is built!

[Griz]

More to the point if you have too few rules, all you can ever get is complex patterns and not behaviours.

Conways game of life is a perfect example of this.

Sure the living cells make lovely complex patterns but they never actually do anything.

of course they don't DO anything ...
they have no input to the rules ...
the rules are all imposed upon them!
it isn't ALife nor should it ever be consider to be.
(I did at one time write a variation that allowed them to do so ...
and also imposed an age limit ... which was very interesting.
but lost all of those progs ... there are still some possibilities there.)

How many rules do you think were needed for real life to form? Think about it.

<semi-rant>
only the universal laws of physics.
no more.

here on earth ...
the condidtions/resources/environment ...
just happened to be conditions that gave the seeds planted an opportunity.
that life emerged and evolved into myriad forms is a result of a SYSTEM
in which the organisms were able to alter the very environment that they
were a part of ... and the environment reciprocating by applying pressure
on the organisms ... ie ... survival of the fittest.
they work together to do this ... can't have one without the other.
the environment undergoes change and evolves as well.
it has to ... or you end up with a stagnant pond.
this is what evolution is about ...
the basic 'rules' were never altered and cannot be altered ...
that's the physics ...
only the conditions of the environment and the organisms that are a part of it.
and it is up to THEM to do so.
or not.
there is no such thing as a failure in nature.
that an organism does not continue, but ends ...
is no less a part of evolution than are those who do continue.
our function ...
should be limited to providing the initial conditions ... the resources ...
and 'basic' bots with the ability to sense/ingest/take advantage of ...
those resources.
now I understand we can't wait billions of years to see some form of
'order' to arise. so we must also provide some 'basic' skills ...
or at least give them access to such skills ...
ie ... some way to fight (OR cooperate) with other forms.
fine. you have 'shots' which seem like they can do either ...
kill or share. and ties. fine.
but please people  ...
let's not get into imposing exotic behaviors on them ...
or 'building' bots to act in predefined ways ...
just provide them the 'opportunities' to develope/evolve
their own behaviors, and to build themselves.
please?
 
then ... step back, get out of the way ...
and observe what 'evolves' ...
or does not.

you know ...
there is no such thing as chaos ...
chaos is only what we call something which we haven't recogized as
being ordered.
that doesn't mean it isn't there ...
only that we are not aware of it.
in nature there is no such thing as disorder ...
only what is.
</semi-rant>



"do not force something to happen ...
just have a sense of openess to the phenomena
you are allowing to come into exisence."

[PurpleYouko]

only the universal laws of physics.
no more.

And this is exactly my point.

Which ones to consider basic and universal. Do you want quantum physics, Newtonian physics, Relativity?

What about the laws of chemistry? Ionic or covalent interactions, acid/base interactions, electrochemistry?

Where do we stop?

The "universal laws of physics" are incredibly complex.

[Greven]

WOW, Griz going beserk!

[Griz]

it isn't ALife nor should it ever be consider to be.
(I did at one time write a variation that allowed them to do so ...
and also imposed an age limit ... which was very interesting.
but lost all of those progs ... there are still some possibilities there.)

anyone have a noncompiled vb version of Conway's Life?
I may be able to recall some of the alterations I made.

"always drink upstream from the herd."

[PurpleYouko]

Nope sorry.

[Griz]

only the universal laws of physics.
no more.

And this is exactly my point.

Which ones to consider basic and universal. Do you want quantum physics, Newtonian physics, Relativity?

What about the laws of chemistry? Ionic or covalent interactions, acid/base interactions, electrochemistry?

Where do we stop?

The "universal laws of physics" are incredibly complex.

just the basics.
we don't need to complicate things with quantum physics or chemistry.
why would we want to!!!
simulate what we see in the macroscopic world for starters.
this is what I mean by 'keep it simple'.
at least for starters.
make it work ... in as simple a way as possible ...
THEN ... somewhere down the road ...
add some complexity if you wish.
let's allow for the 'evolution' of  the program over time as well ...
along with our own understanding of how such a program might
be written. we too, are at the beginning ... not the end.

my god ... talk of quantum physics and wormholes and relativity
and chemistry and who knows what all!!!!
let's get real people! this is NOT a physics sim.
it's an ALife/Evo sim.
it doesn't even have to follow any rules of physics ...
to demonstrate how entities come to evolve.
but of course, we want it to 'look like' something we know.
that's fine ... within reason. ;)
please let us not fall into the trap of anthropomorphism here
let us not impose ourselves upon these poor critters any more
than we have to.

simplify, simpliy, simplify.

well ...
again ...
if you don't 'get this' basic idea of the difference between
a physics sim and an ALife/Evo sim ...
there isn't a damn thing I can say that you will hear.
so it goes.

[Griz]

Holy crap. wacko.gif

He thinks atomic interactions are simple blink.gif

They might look simple to the layman but when you start to study what really goes on, the shear complexity of it all will blow you away.

not so.
it is only our feeble attempts to understand ...
to impose our own order ...
to make sense of what we 'observe' ...
that is complicated.
life itself is simple.
there is what is ...
and then there is what we think about what is.
different critters.
let us not confuse them. ;)

[PurpleYouko]

Griz!

Why are you arguing against me when everything you say is pretty much exactly the point that I was making in the first place?

I don't want a physics sim either, in fact I see no reason why anything from the real world should be included. Evolution will work just as well in a complete fantasy setting. All we need are a few rules and a LOT of interaction between organism and environment. That is where the complexity has to stem from. The interactions.

[Griz]

Hehehe.

I know. I'm just messing too.

I also have to allow for the fact that I am privvy to a lot of scientific research that has yet to filter down to the public at large.

I just find it kind of amusing that obviously inteligent people like you and Greven are still using stuff like weak and strong forces where in my circles it is a little like attempting to convince an astronaut that the world is flat.

I guess they still teach the stuff in school don't they?

They taught me that electrons existed as shells around atoms when I was at school. Then when I got to college, the first day of lectures we were told to forget everything we had ever learned and start over.

Education is weird.

any, all theories are only that ... theories.
they aren't the real world ...
only ways/attempts to describe what is.
and every one of them is subject to change/alteration ...
they better be!
they are our maps and menus ...
they are not the territory or the meal.
and again ...
if we find them to be complicated ...
that is only a mirroring of our own shortcomings and attempts
to 'understand' and impose our own sense of order.
they are 'tools' ...
which can be very useful ...
and are indeed ... essential for us to continue.
but they are not reality or life itself ...
life is simple ...
it is we who complicate it. ;)

[PurpleYouko]

life itself is simple.

I beg to differ but that really isn't the point here.

[Griz]

Griz!

Why are you arguing against me when everything you say is pretty much exactly the point that I was making in the first place?

I don't want a physics sim either, in fact I see no reason why anything from the real world should be included. Evolution will work just as well in a complete fantasy setting. All we need are a few rules and a LOT of interaction between organism and environment. That is where the complexity has to stem from. The interactions.

takes two to tango. ;)
I am not in disagreement with the basics of what you say here ...
only that the interactions are also part of what must evolve.
so let us not leave any larger footprint than we need to.
so that is the trick, eh?
and I suggest we err on the side of simplicity rather than complexity.
at least in the beginning ...
which IS where we are.
let's get the basics in place and working ...
start there ...
with a prog that gives access to as many users/progammers as possible
who can then tweak the bots and environment any way they wish ...
and out of that ... may come some interesting stuff.

I understand Endy has done a lot of work with 'evovling' bots ...
and it is this sort of thing that is of interest to me.
I don't want a 'bot out of the box' ...
just an environment/program that is stable enough to support
the evolution of bot behavior.

[Griz]

life itself is simple.

I beg to differ but that really isn't the point here.

actually ... it's at the root.

you think it's complicated ...
and therefore endevor to simulate complexity.
guess what ...
we find what we look for. ;)

ok.
I can see this is pointless.

go on as you will.

[Numsgil]

Um, back to the point of this thread...

I figured that an ingested cell can fire shots/ties at its captor.  If the captor dies, it is set free.  Each cycle the captive cell digests it (or not) using, say, shots or ties or a combination of both or neither and we invent a new feeding method altogether.  It doesn't matter the mechanics, the effect is all the same.

So ingesting a cell is primarily a way to make sure that no one else gets to battle with it.  Probably mostly useful in eating veggies and corpses.

Real cells generally eat cells much, much tinier than they are.  Said ingested cells I'm sure can fight back, but I haven't really studied this to be honest, (or ahven't started anyway).

I mean, it's not like a cell goes "oops, I've been eated.  Well, it was nice while it lasted."