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Hi Alan, One of the concepts I've heard you talk about before in interviews and the like is simulation. I think simulation is huge and we should be seeing prod

Hi Alan, One of the concepts I've heard you talk about before in interviews and the like is simulation. I think simulation is huge and we should be seeing products that cater towards it, but largely aren't. http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=5 http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=5 http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/08/links-1214-come-ye-to-bethlinkhem/#comment-165173 http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/08/links-1214-come-ye-to-b... Do you still think simulation is an important promise of the computer revolution, and are there any products you know of or ideas you have that are/would be a step in the right direction?

alankay1 10y ago
Yes, and I don't really. An interesting one that has been around for a few years -- that can be used by the general public, children, etc. -- is NetLogo (a takeoff from StarLogo). There is also a StarLogo Nova that is worth looking at. But these are not really general simulation languages of the kind we need in 2016 and beyond ...
- DigitalJack 10y ago
  I need to read what you've said regarding simulations and pseudotime, but I've been wondering if this is along the same lines has as an HDL like VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog. I do chip implementations in those languages, which of course involves simulation and a time concept. I get the idea that is not the sort of simulation you mean, but I'm not sure. The other thought I had was simulation more in the SPICE sense that iterate toward a solution in steps. Any chance you could briefly clarify, and/or toss out a resource that points in the right direction?
  - alankay1 10y ago
    What would a simulation of an epidemic look like? Or a simulation of ants finding food via pheromone trails. Or simulation of dye diffusing in water? Or a simulation of an object being dropped? Etc
    - DigitalJack 10y ago
      Cellular automata comes to mind. I'll think on it. This AMA has really been neat, thanks so much for doing it.

alankay1 10y ago

Yes, and I don't really. An interesting one that has been around for a few years -- that can be used by the general public, children, etc. -- is NetLogo (a takeoff from StarLogo). There is also a StarLogo Nova that is worth looking at. But these are not really general simulation languages of the kind we need in 2016 and beyond ...

DigitalJack 10y ago
I need to read what you've said regarding simulations and pseudotime, but I've been wondering if this is along the same lines has as an HDL like VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog. I do chip implementations in those languages, which of course involves simulation and a time concept. I get the idea that is not the sort of simulation you mean, but I'm not sure. The other thought I had was simulation more in the SPICE sense that iterate toward a solution in steps. Any chance you could briefly clarify, and/or toss out a resource that points in the right direction?
- alankay1 10y ago
  What would a simulation of an epidemic look like? Or a simulation of ants finding food via pheromone trails. Or simulation of dye diffusing in water? Or a simulation of an object being dropped? Etc
  - DigitalJack 10y ago
    Cellular automata comes to mind. I'll think on it. This AMA has really been neat, thanks so much for doing it.