Re: Cellular Automata vs. Agent-Based Models

[Miles Parker]

>>My point is that unrestricted CA's are a strict subset of
agent-based models.  Given that, why not adopt the more general
approach, thereby making Swarm available to a larger body of users?

I agree. I tend to see CAs as a special case of Agent-based models. It is true 
that for many people, a defining characteristic of agents is that they be 
'mobile'. So as I say in the docs for my code, my conception of 'agents' in the 
context of modelling is really a superset of this convential definition. It 
includes rather passive, fixed 'cells'. This could be seen as just a 
development convenience, but I think it is more than that. I would claim that 
the possiblity of movement in some space is really just an agent attribute 
relating to some interesting context. Its not neccesarily useful to privledge 
this above any other attributes.

-Miles

Miles T. Parker
Software Engineer
The Brookings Institution  1775 Mass. Ave. NW  Washington, DC  20036
mailto:address@hidden  voice 202.797.6136  fax 202.797.6319



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