mathematica conference talk
- To: mathgroup@smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg12340] mathematica conference talk
- From: gaylord@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (richard j. gaylord)
- Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 18:52:26 -0400
- Organization: university of illinois
a number of people have been going to the web site for the mathematica conference http://www.wolfram.com/conference98/ to look at the conference program and have then sent me e-mail asking for details on my talk. i think its because the subject seems a bit strange for a mathematica conference. btw - the title has been changed [see below] (hopefully the new title will be put on the web site soon)]. so i thought i might post the abstract for the talk and a list of the topics i wil cover. note: the topics are essentially the table of contents of he new book i have written with lou d'andria [is that a groan of 'oh no, not another one' i hear] called "Simulating Society: A Mathematica Toolkit for Modeling Socioeconomic Behavior" which is due out on june 16th. see you in chicago [one of the best cities in the world]. -richard- ------------------------------- WorldWide Mathematica Conference Chicago, IL June 18 - 21, 1998 SOCIAL LEARNING AND SOCIAL CAPITAL Socieconomic Simulations Using Mathematica by Richard J. Gaylord Thursday Afternoon June 18, 1998 Hotel Inter-Continental Chicago Abstract Computer simulation provides a powerful theoretical tool for studying human social behavior. In this talk, we'll look at simulation models of social phenomena, using a bottom-up or agent-based approach. This approach differs from traditional socioeconomic modeling in that it assumes that: (1) people are heterogeneous, each having his or her own identity, traits, tastes, and memories, (2) people can think rationally or irrationally, intelligently or naively, (3) people can directly interact unilaterally or multilaterally, without the intervention of a central authority, (4) people can change their behavior as they learn from experience and adapt, and (5) people are mobile and can move around simultaneously or asynchronously. We'll develop and discuss simulation models of a variety of social phenomena, including: Social Learning - How do people come to share meme values, including beliefs, attitudes and tastes? One mechanism for the spreading of memes involves contagion. We will look at cultural transmission via the bilateral interaction between individuals in a mobile society when everyone has equal social status and also when there are role models who are emulated. Social Capital - Why causes neighborhoods and ghettos to form, fads and fashions to come and go, and social norms to develop and persist? We will look how these phenomena can occur in a mobile community via the interaction between an individual and a group of other people en masse. Non-Local Phenomena - The behavior of individuals in many traditional social situations, including at a social gathering such as a party or a film festival on a cruise ship, or in an organization such as a community or a company, can be modeled in terms of cellular automata with local interactions and local movements. However, modern modes of transportation such as cars and airplanes, allow non-local movement, and new forms of telecommunications such as the telephone, the Internet and satellite transmission allow non-local interactions. We will show how non-local effects can be incorporated into simulation models of social behavior. --------------------- TOPICS (* i will cover all of these topics in the presentation,time permitting *) INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: Modeling A Society of Mobile, Heterogeneous Individuals principles and techniques CULTURAL EXCHANGE Chapter 2: Transmitting Culture value and belief exchange the influence of social status and the emulation of role models SOCIOECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS Chapter 3: Deciding Whether To Interact (the optional prisoner's dilemma) gossip and reputation the use of signals of intent Chapter 4: Choosing How To Behave reciprocity and the use of history-based interaction strategies aspirations and expectations GROUP INTERACTIONS Chapter 5: Grouping Together and Conforming neighborhood formation social norm development and the spread of fads and fashions NONLOCALITY Chapter 6: Social Networking and Moving To Far-Flung Locations interactions with social neighborhoods of friends and family movement over varying distances -- richard j. gaylord, university of illinois, gaylord@uiuc.edu "What I cannot create, I do not understand" -Richard P. Feynman-