2. Simulated Martian Social Science Laboratories

To provide an historical background for the chapters that follow, and to provide the reader with clear understanding of key technical features of social simulations, this chapter presents the logic and outcomes of a series of computer programs written by the author that model stages in the colonization of Mars. In contrast to the massive simulations explored in the later chapters of this book, each program is simple, reflecting a coherent conceptual structure focused on a specific issue. One considers the social structure of communication within a small team of scientists and engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as it struggles to achieve a specific discovery. Another employs a minimal genetic algorithm to model evolution of a hypothetical species native to Neptune’s moon, Triton. Three programs employing neural nets in multi-agent systems model stages in colonization on Phobos, Deimos, and Mars. Another set of more ambitious programs explores the consolidation of religious culture after a substantial Martian colony has been established.