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Parable of the Polygons – a playable post on the shape of society

(ncase.me)
357 points pyduan | 1 comments | 08 Dec 14 14:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.26s | source
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aetherson ◴[08 Dec 14 22:03 UTC] No.8719517[source]▶
I enjoyed playing with the graphs and everything, but I question whether this model has much relevance to the real world. Is there a strong reason to believe that these effects would survive a model of "I want to move" that is not solely based on "too many people unlike me live near by" and/or "not enough people unlike me live near by"? Indeed, is there a strong reason to believe that a binary modality of "I'm happy/unhappy," (the post gestures in the direction of a third mode, "I'm neither happy nor unhappy," but in fact in their simulations that third mode is indistinguishable from "happy") is a good abstraction of people's moving decisions?

The data paper they posted a link to suggests that there is unlikely to be an equilibrium, contra the message of this post.

It seems like it's more an explanation of a mathematical model and a prescriptive political position, rather than a description of anything real in society.

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1. vidarh ◴[09 Dec 14 09:30 UTC] No.8721859[source]▶
The point of the model is to demonstrate that all else being equal, very tiny biases can explain continued segregation.

It's mainly a counter to the idea that enough people not caring about the racial makeup of where you live will lead to diversity in the face of even tiny amounts of bias in other parts of the population. If people want diversity, the only way it will happen is to actively promote it.

Of course other effects come into play too.