cthia wrote:The Manticore Binary System There is also a notion of
minimum density.minimum densityIf a living square has no other living squares nearby, the rules say it will die of loneliness.
If a living square is surrounded by more than three other living squares, the square will also die, of overcrowding.
If a dead square is surrounded by three live squares, it becomes linked. The Manticore Binary System—Manticore, Sphinx, Gryphon.
Dead square = unsettled Binary system.
The E wrote:Yeah, see, this is what I mean by tortured analogy. In this analogy, what's a system with a single inhabited planet? What about one with 4 settled planets? What does the study of cellular automata say about them? Do they die off, or cause overcrowding leading to eventual extinction?
And what does this say about the Star Kingdom and its annexation of Basilisk and the incorporation of San Martin?
I really do not know E. I was hoping someone could tell
me. By sharing some of that natural, instinctual insight. I'm certainly no expert on cellular automata, though I have used it in several of my programming projects with great success. Its utility seems to be infinite.
Certainly, I do not mean to insinuate that any comparisons that I draw are written in stone. And surely, any item could be used to represent (predict, support, explain) several, or more, things.
Regarding the systems with 1 or 4 neighbors and "do they die off?" Who knows, perhaps only
time will tell as these are
period oscillators. Denoting a matter of time between events, which may or may not have come to pass.
Also, if you study cellular automata, you will question what happens to any particular rule if acted upon by an outside force, e.g., Grayson becoming a part of the Alliance and NOT
eventually succumbing to the League.
At any rate, cellular automata and the Honorverse are simply parts of things that make
me go
hmm.