The Game of Life

This is a really interesting demonstration of emergent complexity. The rules of the game are as follows:

For a space that is ‘populated’:

1) Each cell with one or no neighbors dies, as if by loneliness.

2) Each cell with four or more neighbors dies, as if by overpopulation.

3) Each cell with two or three neighbors survives

For a space that is ‘empty’ or ‘unpopulated’:

1) Each cell with three neighbors becomes populated.

If you punch “life” into Matlab it will give you a neat little applet that runs the game.