From: "Brian Schröder" <ruby@...>
Date: 2004-12-08T00:28:35+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby (quiz?) simulation idea

On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:25:07 +0900
James Edward Gray II <james@grayproductions.net> wrote:

> On Dec 6, 2004, at 7:25 PM, Hal Fulton wrote:
> 
> > This is just off the top of my head. I thought I'd post it instead of
> > emailing, in case people want to discuss it and/or think about it.
> 
> [snip description]
> 
> Silence means consent?
> 

I'd like to propose something a bit different that stresses the fact that
evolution is _not_ survival of the _strongest_ but survival of the _fittest
population_.

Maybe you have heard of this theme before, I also tried to simulate it once but
it didn't work out how I thought, so it should be an interesting problem.

The setting: (Directly from memory, so correct any misfacts)

A certain kind of blood sucking bats (Vampires ;) can survive only one day
without finding food. They live in big groups in their caves, but
hunt/gather[1]  alone. 

These bats are a standard example for how altruism develops in evolution. 

A bat may share the blood it has gathered through the night with another bat
that had no success. But why should it? If it shares, it needs to gather
successfully the next night, otherwise it will starve. So it diminusishes its
strength and helps a rival, whose genes will have a better chance to spread.
Wouldn't it be better off being egoistic and increasing its survival
possibility?

In practice, the bats developed some kind of "tit for tat" algorithm. So it is
_for the population with this trait_ an evolutionary positive trait to be
altruistic.

So obviously what is the goal of the quiz. Write a "bat simulator" and feed it
with a population of bats with different survival strategies. Equip the bats
live with whatever detail you deem neccessary (Hunting, Mating, Breeding,
Genetic Exchange, Mutation, ...) and see if the populations with different
traits come to an equilibrium.

Try to adjust the factors such that altruistic bats survive, if this didn't
happen on the first run.

Drawback of this proposal: No sensible nice graphics possible. Only graphs. But
maybe _why can draw us a bat that looks like an elephant with a duck on its
back ;)

Best Regards,

Brian


[1] they don't kill their prey, so maybe I should say gather

-- 
Brian Schr�der
http://www.brian-schroeder.de/