You can watch as structures emerge and degrade over time, or you can drag your mouse across the screen to create particles. On mobile, only slowly dragging sideways works due to external scroll effects depending on OS. You can reset the animation by clicking on the icon in the top left. Just be careful not to add too many particles. Once the monstrous blob appears, you can wait for it to die off, or reset the animation with the icon in the top left.
John Conway's Game of Life, a dance of cells upon a grid, demonstrated cellular automata in 1970, and Craig Reynold's Boids, the harmonious choreography of digital creatures, modeled murmurations in 1986. Both model and evoke the profound beauty of life's emergent patterns. These simulations capture the essence of nature's algorithm, where simple rules yield complex phenomena.
This simulator, PGL, like these works, unveils emergent structures birthed by simple interactions between repulsion and attraction. The particles each have their own lifespan, and the organizations they form, as a result, must continue to attract new particles in order to maintain their shape. In this virtual realm, organisms embody organizational structures, flourishing as their populations reach higher densities, changing shape as they grow, stagnate, and age.
The forces of attraction and repulsion weave a complex web of relationships, underpinning the very fabric of existence. From the atomic and molecular realms, these forces ascend to even grander scales, birthing a cascade of intricate structures and phenomena.
At the atomic level, electromagnetic forces govern the delicate dance of electrons and protons, drawing them together to form atoms. In the molecular domain, these same forces sculpt the bonds between atoms, giving rise to a diverse array of molecules, and subsequently, the myriad of substances that constitute our world.
These forces continue to manifest in various guises beyond the molecular sphere. They shape the formation of intricate biological structures, such as proteins and cells, which, in turn, assemble into tissues, organs, and ultimately, entire organisms.
And in the celestial theater, gravitational forces bind celestial bodies and orchestrate their motion through the vast expanse of space. Planets, stars, galaxies, and even galaxy clusters arise from these forces of repulsion and attraction, painting a breathtaking cosmic tapestry of light and darkness.
The forces of attraction and repulsion permeate every level of existence, from the infinitesimal to the unimaginably vast. They guide the creation of structures and phenomena that, when viewed through the lens of emergence, reveal the boundless beauty and complexity of the universe we inhabit.
Emergence, the enigmatic cornerstone of life and the universe, offers a lens through which we may better understand the world around us. By scrutinizing the interdependence of life's simple rules and complex outcomes, we unveil the essence of life itself.