Conway's Game of Life
Emergent complexity from four simple rules — a classic thought experiment in systems behavior.
Introduced by mathematician John Conway in 1970, the Game of Life is a zero-player cellular automaton — set the initial conditions, press Start, and watch what unfolds. Stable structures, oscillators, and gliders emerge spontaneously from nothing but the four rules below, a useful reminder that complex, seemingly intelligent behavior doesn't require complex instructions.
Rules
- Underpopulation: A live cell with fewer than 2 neighbors dies
- Survival: A live cell with 2 or 3 neighbors survives
- Overpopulation: A live cell with more than 3 neighbors dies
- Reproduction: A dead cell with exactly 3 neighbors becomes alive
The board wraps around (toroidal topology), so cells on edges connect to the opposite side. See Wikipedia for a great explanation. Gosper's glider gun is so cool.
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