Hi Struan and All
On 13 Mar 99, at 23:40, Struan Hellier wrote:
> ROGER:
> "Patterns are evolving toward higher complexity and higher degrees of
> freedom. Experience is evolving toward richer, higher value. Everything
> is evolving to higher quality. The benefits of this revised model are
> clarity, simplicity and the elimination of some minor MOQ platypi. "
>
> If higher complexity is synonymous with higher quality, why are you
> seeking simplicity?
The best way I could answer this, and I'm sure Roger will have an equally good answer, is
to think of Conway's game of Life.
There are, I think, 3 rules which relate to each cell.
1) If there are 3 adjoining cells which are alive, the state of the cell in focus is alive
2) If there are 2 adjoining cells which are alive, the state of the cell in focus doesn't change
3) For any other combination the state of the cell in focus is dead
The complexity of behaviour that is produced by the above rules is, to say the least,
stunning (check out what Danny Hillis did with these rules and a Connection Machine).
Additionally, the game is completely deterministic and yet using a simple 100 X 100 square
grid and a couple of hundred randomly placed live cells to seed the game, within a hundred
or so iterations of the rules it is virtually impossible to determine the exact initial
configuration of the game. Pretty good for 3 rules?
So it is entirely consistent to try and explain a complex outcome or current state in terms of
the simplest explanation. I believe that Roger is applying the principle of parsimony or
Ockham's (Occam's) Razor to the foundations of the MOQ.
Horse
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