The Blind LJ Watchmaker, or Unnatural Selections
I was reading Richard Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker last night and realized he not only did what I did fairly recently, he also did 20 years ago and in the same chapter what I have been itching to do for years. Instead of making me sad, I realized the LJ could do what he did even better.
In a fascinating chapter on natural selection, Dawkins programs his computer to draw a simple multi-line figure. He then takes all the steps in the drawing and adds slight variation, modifying, adding or subtracting one element of the figure, just one, and presenting the three resulting figures for his approval. He chooses the one he likes best, and the process of mutating the choice repeats. Through this very simple program he "created" a panoply of bizarre shapes far removed from the original stick-figure tree he originally drew.
Addendum, March 31, 2008:It looks like someone has taken this very program and let it run on YouTube. Take a peek!
End Addendum.
He did this not to demonstrate his skills as a programmer or "designer" of shapes, but to show the plausibility of gradual genetic modification to create the vast diversity of life on the planet today. It worked well.
Sadly, I've been itching to do just such a project. Reading his attempt caused me to realize a limitation he had; he was the only one choosing.
What if such a project were put onto the LJ?
I envision a program that creates a basic three dimensional shape, and has the ability to randomly add elements to the shape; extrusions, joints on said extrusions, blobulations, colorations, surface rendering, etc. Like Dawkins' program, it would then present three of these creations for consideration, mutating the selected figure.
Here's where the system gets kinky.
On the LJ, many relate to others by friending. These friends share a commonality, perhaps a shared vision of the world. It's possible to see the relationship between friends listed by drawing up an LJ Mindmap. The link refers to the mindmap of the mindmap creator, my brother mcfnord. One can even surf the Mindmaps, clicking on bracketed names to go to that person's MM.
Having witnessed the Mindmaps since they were created, I've noticed the friend connections can jump, sometimes rapidly, between what I perceive as social niches. For example, from the mcfnord MM, find metalmensch, my other brother on the LJ, and click to his map. Just from reading his friends' names, it's possible to envision metalmensch as a bit into the goth scene. I think this is a fair representation. I think it is also not too much of a brain stretch to envision the kind of creatures folks with names evoking dark tales by H. P. Lovecraft and Egyption death gods might select; hard-edged, predatory dark figures with lots of spikes on their many apendages, perhaps.
For the sake of the Unnatural Selector, the person doing the selection will be considered a "habitat," related to all the people in that persons' flist. Therefore, the creatures presented for selection will also be from a stock selected by that persons' friends, or by people associated to their friends. (Note the "Radar" function to the right of the MM. Radar cues users of folks associated to friends, but not friended.)
My theory (though it remains to be tested); the initial figures the machine generates will be bland, somewhat confusing, with perhaps only a few elements. As more and more are selected for mutation, the preferences in the selectors will emerge, just as actual creatures adapt to survival -- or die -- on earth today. After many, many selections and mutations (and extinctions; figures that fail to be chosen a certain number of times are doomed to only an archival existance), the figures should really start to match the preferences of the persons doing the selections to an uncanny degree. Metalic insect mechadons might inhabit the "environment" of the goths/science geeks (like me); wispy, pastel winged and ethereal might appear with those who favor the light and mystical; cute kitty- and bunny-esque furries might go elsewhere (though, to be honest, I heart the kitties as well).
One of the greatest benefits from this experiment/waster of time would be tracing the descendants once the meme spread, and seeing how the butterfly-winged pastel kitties and the many-fanged steel raptors once shared a common, simple ancenstor.
What would be required? Definitely, a basic vector-based graphics engine (perhaps like this one?) that can modified to accept commands from an alpha-numerical interface a computer can drive. Oh, and someone familiar with programing. For starters. That is sadly not me.
But it would be interesting. . . .
In a fascinating chapter on natural selection, Dawkins programs his computer to draw a simple multi-line figure. He then takes all the steps in the drawing and adds slight variation, modifying, adding or subtracting one element of the figure, just one, and presenting the three resulting figures for his approval. He chooses the one he likes best, and the process of mutating the choice repeats. Through this very simple program he "created" a panoply of bizarre shapes far removed from the original stick-figure tree he originally drew.
Addendum, March 31, 2008:It looks like someone has taken this very program and let it run on YouTube. Take a peek!
Click to viewEnd Addendum.
He did this not to demonstrate his skills as a programmer or "designer" of shapes, but to show the plausibility of gradual genetic modification to create the vast diversity of life on the planet today. It worked well.
Sadly, I've been itching to do just such a project. Reading his attempt caused me to realize a limitation he had; he was the only one choosing.
What if such a project were put onto the LJ?
I envision a program that creates a basic three dimensional shape, and has the ability to randomly add elements to the shape; extrusions, joints on said extrusions, blobulations, colorations, surface rendering, etc. Like Dawkins' program, it would then present three of these creations for consideration, mutating the selected figure.
Here's where the system gets kinky.
On the LJ, many relate to others by friending. These friends share a commonality, perhaps a shared vision of the world. It's possible to see the relationship between friends listed by drawing up an LJ Mindmap. The link refers to the mindmap of the mindmap creator, my brother mcfnord. One can even surf the Mindmaps, clicking on bracketed names to go to that person's MM.
Having witnessed the Mindmaps since they were created, I've noticed the friend connections can jump, sometimes rapidly, between what I perceive as social niches. For example, from the mcfnord MM, find metalmensch, my other brother on the LJ, and click to his map. Just from reading his friends' names, it's possible to envision metalmensch as a bit into the goth scene. I think this is a fair representation. I think it is also not too much of a brain stretch to envision the kind of creatures folks with names evoking dark tales by H. P. Lovecraft and Egyption death gods might select; hard-edged, predatory dark figures with lots of spikes on their many apendages, perhaps.
For the sake of the Unnatural Selector, the person doing the selection will be considered a "habitat," related to all the people in that persons' flist. Therefore, the creatures presented for selection will also be from a stock selected by that persons' friends, or by people associated to their friends. (Note the "Radar" function to the right of the MM. Radar cues users of folks associated to friends, but not friended.)
My theory (though it remains to be tested); the initial figures the machine generates will be bland, somewhat confusing, with perhaps only a few elements. As more and more are selected for mutation, the preferences in the selectors will emerge, just as actual creatures adapt to survival -- or die -- on earth today. After many, many selections and mutations (and extinctions; figures that fail to be chosen a certain number of times are doomed to only an archival existance), the figures should really start to match the preferences of the persons doing the selections to an uncanny degree. Metalic insect mechadons might inhabit the "environment" of the goths/science geeks (like me); wispy, pastel winged and ethereal might appear with those who favor the light and mystical; cute kitty- and bunny-esque furries might go elsewhere (though, to be honest, I heart the kitties as well).
One of the greatest benefits from this experiment/waster of time would be tracing the descendants once the meme spread, and seeing how the butterfly-winged pastel kitties and the many-fanged steel raptors once shared a common, simple ancenstor.
What would be required? Definitely, a basic vector-based graphics engine (perhaps like this one?) that can modified to accept commands from an alpha-numerical interface a computer can drive. Oh, and someone familiar with programing. For starters. That is sadly not me.
But it would be interesting. . . .