Reputation and the evolution of conflict (2003)
Authors
Abstract
Evolutionary computing is a powerful tool for studying the origins and evolution of music. In this case, music is studied as an adaptive complex dynamic system and its origins and evolution are studied in the context of the cultural conventions that may emerge under a number of constraints (e.g., psychological, physiological and ecological constraints). This paper introduces three case studies of evolutionary modelling of music. It begins with a model for studying the role of mating-selective pressure in the evolution of musical taste. Here the agents evolve “courting tunes” in a society of “male” composers and “female” critics. Next, a mimetic model is introduced to study the evolution of musical expectation in a community of autonomous agents furnished with a vocal synthesiser, a hearing system and memory. Finally, an iterated learning model is proposed for studying the evolution of compositional grammars. In this case, the agents evolve grammars for composing music to express a set of emotions.
Bibliographic entry
McElreath, R. (2003). Reputation and the evolution of conflict. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 220, 345-357. (Full text)