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Newbie / Hi, new to Darwinbots
« on: October 17, 2011, 06:06:30 AM »
Hi, I just joined and I'm new to Darwinbots.
It looks like a fun and interesting experiment but I noticed it's incredibly complex. There seem to be a lot of computer-orientated minds on this board and for a computer illiterate who can't seem to learn a programming language to save themselves (I have tried C++ and Java even with added tuition, but my dyscalculia and related learning difficulties always gets in the way even in non-math parts and I never got very far), forgive me for saying I find the place a little intimidating. So, I thought I'd post my introduction to sort of break the ice a bit.
So, I'm 22 and live in the UK. I like biology (but failed at it at university level) and love learning little titbits of info about living organisms, ecosystems and various interactions between various species and their environment on a very non-academic basis. I'm a restricted learner and can't really force myself to learn something that doesn't interest me. I'm determined to try improve my learning skills so I can learn things that don't interest me because it's inevitable that there has and will again come a time where I want to understand something I find interesting and I will also need to understand something I don't find interesting in order to do that.
That doesn't relate to Darwinbots at all, though. The reason why I joined here is because, quite simply, the concept interested me. It's like a little virtual petri dish on your computer. But I do find it incredibly confusing to use or understand. I realise a lot of people here can read the bot's genetic code and that might offer an insight and explanation to bot behaviours but I find myself unable to make the connection between what I'm reading in the code and what I'm seeing in the behaviours. So most of the time I don't really know what's going on.
I have however managed to get a stable population of animal minimalis descendants, stabilized at around 1400 bots at any one time, on a medium sized plain, feeding on continuously replenishing alga minimalis. It's been stable for around 5000 cycles now. I usually have it on ninja mode because my computer is crap.
For someone like myself who isn't very, erm... clued up about computery or biology things, is there anything I can still get out of Darwinbots, or is it perhaps a bit over my head?
It looks like a fun and interesting experiment but I noticed it's incredibly complex. There seem to be a lot of computer-orientated minds on this board and for a computer illiterate who can't seem to learn a programming language to save themselves (I have tried C++ and Java even with added tuition, but my dyscalculia and related learning difficulties always gets in the way even in non-math parts and I never got very far), forgive me for saying I find the place a little intimidating. So, I thought I'd post my introduction to sort of break the ice a bit.
So, I'm 22 and live in the UK. I like biology (but failed at it at university level) and love learning little titbits of info about living organisms, ecosystems and various interactions between various species and their environment on a very non-academic basis. I'm a restricted learner and can't really force myself to learn something that doesn't interest me. I'm determined to try improve my learning skills so I can learn things that don't interest me because it's inevitable that there has and will again come a time where I want to understand something I find interesting and I will also need to understand something I don't find interesting in order to do that.
That doesn't relate to Darwinbots at all, though. The reason why I joined here is because, quite simply, the concept interested me. It's like a little virtual petri dish on your computer. But I do find it incredibly confusing to use or understand. I realise a lot of people here can read the bot's genetic code and that might offer an insight and explanation to bot behaviours but I find myself unable to make the connection between what I'm reading in the code and what I'm seeing in the behaviours. So most of the time I don't really know what's going on.
I have however managed to get a stable population of animal minimalis descendants, stabilized at around 1400 bots at any one time, on a medium sized plain, feeding on continuously replenishing alga minimalis. It's been stable for around 5000 cycles now. I usually have it on ninja mode because my computer is crap.
For someone like myself who isn't very, erm... clued up about computery or biology things, is there anything I can still get out of Darwinbots, or is it perhaps a bit over my head?