Abstract
Since its inception, ALife has moved from producing large
numbers of highly-idealised, theoretical models towards
greater integration with empirically collected data. In con-
trast, demography — the interdisciplinary study of human
populations — has been largely following the principles of
logical empiricism, with models driven mainly by data, and
insufficient attention being paid to theoretical investigation.
Such an approach reduces the ability to produce micro-level
explanations of population processes, which would be coher-
ent with the phenomena observed at the macro level, without
having to rely on ever-increasing data demands of complex
demographic models. In this paper we argue that by bring-
ing ALife-inspired, agent-based methods into demographic
research, we can both develop a greater understanding of the
processes underlying demographic change, and avoid a limit-
ing over-dependence on potentially immense sets of data.
– But you are paying a lot of money for the dragon!
– And what, should we just give it to the citizens in-
stead? [...] I see you know nothing about the principles
of economics! Export credit warms up the economy and
increases the global turnover.
– But it also increases the dragon as such – I
stopped him. – The more intensely you feed him, the
bigger he gets; and the bigger he gets, the higher his
appetite. What kind of a calculation is it? He will fi-
nally devour you all!
Stanisław Lem, Po˙zytek ze smoka [The Use of a
Dragon] (1983/2008: 186)
numbers of highly-idealised, theoretical models towards
greater integration with empirically collected data. In con-
trast, demography — the interdisciplinary study of human
populations — has been largely following the principles of
logical empiricism, with models driven mainly by data, and
insufficient attention being paid to theoretical investigation.
Such an approach reduces the ability to produce micro-level
explanations of population processes, which would be coher-
ent with the phenomena observed at the macro level, without
having to rely on ever-increasing data demands of complex
demographic models. In this paper we argue that by bring-
ing ALife-inspired, agent-based methods into demographic
research, we can both develop a greater understanding of the
processes underlying demographic change, and avoid a limit-
ing over-dependence on potentially immense sets of data.
– But you are paying a lot of money for the dragon!
– And what, should we just give it to the citizens in-
stead? [...] I see you know nothing about the principles
of economics! Export credit warms up the economy and
increases the global turnover.
– But it also increases the dragon as such – I
stopped him. – The more intensely you feed him, the
bigger he gets; and the bigger he gets, the higher his
appetite. What kind of a calculation is it? He will fi-
nally devour you all!
Stanisław Lem, Po˙zytek ze smoka [The Use of a
Dragon] (1983/2008: 186)
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Artificial Life Conference Proceedings |
| Publisher | MIT Press Journals |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780262297141 |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Aug 2011 |