Workshop: Introduction to Modelling and Simulation



The Eighth Asia Pacific Complex Systems Conference

Simulation of social interactions focuses on the patterns that emerge in social systems of interacting agents. "Emergent" means not simply the agregation of individual agent's actions. To understand such "complex adaptive" systems, artificial societies composed of interacting adaptive agents can be created and analyzed. Such models can exhibit properties such as cooperation, social norms, and social stratification, and help understanding such phenomena. Using simulation, previously inaccessible questions are amenable to analysis. Such bottom-up simulations can also be used to design the rules of engagement, for instance in a new market. The workshop will cover theory and practice, with hands-on simulations.

Simulation of social interactions focuses on the complex adaptive behavior that emerges in social systems. To better understand the behavior of such complex adaptive social systems, "artificial worlds" composed of interacting adaptive agents can be created and analyzed. Such models often exhibit properties that are strikingly similar to the actual social world, e.g., cooperation, social norms, and social stratification into different classes, and provide a unique window into understanding such phenomena. Using simulation methods, previously inaccessible, yet fundamental, questions are now becoming amenable to analysis. There is much research to be done in this area---along with creating and understanding these types of complex systems, efforts need to be directed toward developing accessible versions of these models for the classroom.

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Last Updated 4 February, 2007
Robert Marks, bobm@agsm.edu.au