GYROBOY in Game of Life

While playing the mathematical-computed, 2D “Conway’s Game of Life”, you may be “magically” entering a journey into Nature’s codes. Its attention-seeking basics, simple (almost near-binary options) rules may encompass to project a virtual creation, wonderful and thought-provoking. Simple logical codes of life (LIVE and DEAD squares) in the game, through its computed logical gating, reminds us of “kindergarten stages” of the Real Grand scheme of life’s origin in cosmos. Blinkers, Gliders, Guns and projectiles at the 116th generation are a wonder to watch.

Simple initial conditions and iterations of repeated generations mirror Evolution’s selection process supporting only life, defying death.

All of this echoes as resonating “Fractals” — Mandelbrot’s blooming, ever-iterating images of virtual nature in other dimensions.

At the root of all these are basic fuzzy premises — calculate not integers but in non-terminating ratios. And also that movements define life.

Before we are lost into “Quantum domains”…

Let’s retract back to Boolean logic gates. Modules of codes based on these gates apply for use to create “Identities” in step-ladder fashions.

Here comes my fascination with LEGO building blocks, particularly Mindstorm EV Robotic sets. These allowed building instructions for interacting, balancing, sensing robots — “GYROBOY” in particular.

No complex behaviour generated, yet interesting to watch — building from basic modular building blocks, with coded modular programmes imitating (almost) basic, simple displays of life.

It is run on parallel codes: as independent strings for ① SENSORY data collection/inference to control behaviour & ② data for Motor rotations in keeping Balance (GYRO) and to MOVE around. The palate runs in co-ordinated SENSOR–FLOW–ACTION entwined logics.

What we deal with here is an artificial creation — GYROBOY (just a toy-game) — across the important rules of incorporating SENSORS with MOVEMENTS. The result as a self-balancing, interacting robot in GYROBOY parallels Nature’s own algorithms too!!

Evolution had applied in its own mysterious way these same fuzzy logics, navigating between integers, Boolean gates with NAND/NOR logics.

It has built the whole living world by creating IDENTITY codes as Genes “Attractors” (GRN: Gene Regulatory Networks) which have mostly rules coded into their informational structure. These Rulebook packets then open up “DANCE & PLAY” — Fractal creations into exponential life-form varieties along possible niches.

Over this manifold emerges the next known Attractor: NEURAL STATES, and then — WE ARRIVE…