Evolution, Symbiosis, and Autopoiesis in the Game of Life

Recently we introduced a model of symbiosis, Model-S, based on the evolution of seed patterns in Conway's Game of Life. In the model, the fitness of a seed pattern is measured by one-on-one competitions in the Immigration Game, a two-player variation of the Game of Life. This article examines the role of autopoiesis in determining fitness in Model-S. We connect our research on evolution, symbiosis, and autopoiesis with research on soups in the Game of Life community. A soup is a random initial pattern in a cellular automaton, such as the Game of Life. When a game begins, there is usually a flare of rapid change in the soup, resembling a fire spreading through a forest. Eventually the fire burns down and the remaining patterns are called ash. Ashes are stable, oscillating, and flying patterns, studied intensively by the Game of Life community for insights into the game. Ashes are instances of autopoietic structures. We use the apgsearch software (Ash Pattern Generator Search), developed for the study of ash, to analyze autopoiesis in Model-S. We find that the fitness of evolved seed patterns in Model-S is highly correlated with the diversity and quantity of autopoietic structures (ash).