This feature article traces the history of artificial societies from its roots in the work of Thomas Schelling to Axtell and Epstein’s Sugarscape model. Rauch discusses CSED’s research on Zipf distribution, A-societies and the Anasazi tribe to posit that the construction of artificial communities provides social scientists with a method to predict the outcomes of particular policy interventions.
Jonathan Rauch is also a writer in residence at the Brookings Institution.
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Commentary
Seeing Around Corners
April 1, 2002