Estimating meme fitness in adaptive memetic algorithms for combinatorial problems

Among the most promising and active research areas in heuristic optimisation is the field of adaptive memetic algorithms (AMAs). These gain much of their reported robustness by adapting the probability with which each of a set of local improvement operators is applied, according to an estimate of their current value to the search process. This paper addresses the issue of how the current value should be estimated. Assuming the estimate occurs over several applications of a meme, we consider whether the extreme or mean improvements should be used, and whether this aggregation should be global, or local to some part of the solution space. To investigate these issues, we use the well-established COMA framework that coevolves the specification of a population of memes (representing different local search algorithms) alongside a population of candidate solutions to the problem at hand. Two very different memetic algorithms are considered: the first using adaptive operator pursuit to adjust the probabilities of applying a fixed set of memes, and a second which applies genetic operators to dynamically adapt and create memes and their functional definitions. For the latter, especially on combinatorial problems, credit assignment mechanisms based on historical records, or on notions of landscape locality, will have limited application, and it is necessary to estimate the value of a meme via some form of sampling. The results on a set of binary encoded combinatorial problems show that both methods are very effective, and that for some problems it is necessary to use thousands of variables in order to tease apart the differences between different reward schemes. However, for both memetic algorithms, a significant pattern emerges that reward based on mean improvement is better than that based on extreme improvement. This contradicts recent findings from adapting the parameters of operators involved in global evolutionary search. The results also show that local reward schemes outperform global reward schemes in combinatorial spaces, unlike in continuous spaces. An analysis of evolving meme behaviour is used to explain these findings. © 2012 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

AN APPROACH TO MACHINE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSICAL ONTOGENY

This Thesis pursues three main objectives: (i) to use computational modelling to explore how music is perceived, cognitively processed and created by human beings; (ii) to explore interactive musical systems as a method to model and achieve the transmission of musical influence in artificial worlds and between humans and machines; and (iii) to experiment with artificial and alternative developmental musical routes in order to observe the evolution of musical styles. In order to achieve these objectives, this Thesis introduces a new paradigm for the design of computer interactive musical systems called the Ontomemetical Model of Music Evolution - OMME, which includes the fields of musical ontogenesis and memetlcs. OMME-based systems are designed to artificially explore the evolution of music centred on human perceptive and cognitive faculties. The potential of the OMME is illustrated with two interactive musical systems, the Rhythmic Meme Generator (RGeme) and the Interactive Musical Environments (iMe). which have been tested in a series of laboratory experiments and live performances. The introduction to the OMME is preceded by an extensive and critical overview of the state of the art computer models that explore musical creativity and interactivity, in addition to a systematic exposition of the major issues involved in the design and implementation of these systems. This Thesis also proposes innovative solutions for (i) the representation of musical streams based on perceptive features, (ii) music segmentation, (iii) a memory-based music model, (iv) the measure of distance between musical styles, and (v) an impi*ovisation-based creative model

A Cognitive Information Theory of Music: A Computational Memetics Approach

This thesis offers an account of music cognition based on information theory and memetics. My research strategy is to split the memetic modelling into four layers: Data, Information, Psychology and Application. Multiple cognitive models are proposed for the Information and Psychology layers, and the MDL best-fit models with published human data are selected. Then, for the Psychology layer only, new experiments are conducted to validate the best-fit models. In the information chapter, an information-theoretic model of musical memory is proposed, along with two competing models. The proposed model exhibited a better fit with human data than the competing models. Higher-level psychological theories are then built on top of this information layer. In the similarity chapter, I proposed three competing models of musical similarity, and conducted a new experiment to validate the best-fit model. In the fitness chapter, I again proposed three competing models of musical fitness, and conducted a new experiment to validate the best-fit model. In both cases, the correlations with human data are statistically significant. All in all, my research has shown that the memetic strategy is sound, and the modelling results are encouraging. Implications of this research are discussed

Categorical Ontology of Complex Systems, Meta-Systems and Theory of Levels: The Emergence of Life, Human Consciousness and Society

Single cell interactomics in simpler organisms, as well as somatic cell interactomics in multicellular organisms, involve biomolecular interactions in complex signalling pathways that were recently represented in modular terms by quantum automata with ‘reversible behavior’ representing normal cell cycling and division. Other implications of such quantum automata, modular modeling of signaling pathways and cell differentiation during development are in the fields of neural plasticity and brain development leading to quantum-weave dynamic patterns and specific molecular processes underlying extensive memory, learning, anticipation mechanisms and the emergence of human consciousness during the early brain development in children. Cell interactomics is here represented for the first time as a mixture of ‘classical’ states that determine molecular dynamics subject to Boltzmann statistics and ‘steady-state’, metabolic (multi-stable) manifolds, together with ‘configuration’ spaces of metastable quantum states emerging from complex quantum dynamics of interacting networks of biomolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids that are now collectively defined as quantum interactomics. On the other hand, the time dependent evolution over several generations of cancer cells --that are generally known to undergo frequent and extensive genetic mutations and, indeed, suffer genomic transformations at the chromosome level (such as extensive chromosomal aberrations found in many colon cancers)-- cannot be correctly represented in the ‘standard’ terms of quantum automaton modules, as the normal somatic cells can. This significant difference at the cancer cell genomic level is therefore reflected in major changes in cancer cell interactomics often from one cancer cell ‘cycle’ to the next, and thus it requires substantial changes in the modeling strategies, mathematical tools and experimental designs aimed at understanding cancer mechanisms. Novel solutions to this important problem in carcinogenesis are proposed and experimental validation procedures are suggested. From a medical research and clinical standpoint, this approach has important consequences for addressing and preventing the development of cancer resistance to medical therapy in ongoing clinical trials involving stage III cancer patients, as well as improving the designs of future clinical trials for cancer treatments.\ud \ud \ud KEYWORDS: Emergence of Life and Human Consciousness;\ud Proteomics; Artificial Intelligence; Complex Systems Dynamics; Quantum Automata models and Quantum Interactomics; quantum-weave dynamic patterns underlying human consciousness; specific molecular processes underlying extensive memory, learning, anticipation mechanisms and human consciousness; emergence of human consciousness during the early brain development in children; Cancer cell ‘cycling’; interacting networks of proteins and nucleic acids; genetic mutations and chromosomal aberrations in cancers, such as colon cancer; development of cancer resistance to therapy; ongoing clinical trials involving stage III cancer patients’ possible improvements of the designs for future clinical trials and cancer treatments. \ud \u

Podmiot ewolucyjny : fantastyka naukowa z perspektywy literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego

Celem rozprawy jest analiza fantastyki naukowej z perspektywy literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego w celu ustalenia jakie mechanizmy stoją za fabularnymi i narracyjnymi schematami poetyki fantastycznonaukowej; zbadania, czy możliwe jest aby fantastyka naukowa pełniła funkcję adaptacyjną, oraz, pośrednio, zbadanie użyteczności literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego jako narzędzia analizy teoretycznej. Rozdział pierwszy stanowi przegląd dotychczasowych badań skupiających się na wpływie uwarunkowań genetycznych i adaptacyjnych na formy i sposoby ludzkich zachowań kulturowych oraz przybliża pojęcie konsiliencji wprowadzone przez Edwarda O. Wilsona a stanowiące intelektualną podstawę do rozwoju ewolucyjnie zorientowanych badań literackich. Rozdział drugi przybliża cele i metodologię literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego, w dużej mierze wyrastającego z opozycji wobec dominujących obecnie w Teorii trendów poststrukturalistycznych. Odrzucenie centralnych dla postrukturalizmu założeń, pozwala na paradygmatyczną reorientację badań literackich, co z kolei otwiera drogę do analizy aktywności artystycznej, w tym także literackiej, w relacji do biologicznie motywowanych potrzeb adaptacyjnych. Rozdział stanowi próbę wykazania, że fantastyka naukowa, poprzez swoją koncentrację na eksperymentach poznawczych, myślowych i intelektualnych skupionych na interakcji z nowym, odmiennym i niezwykłym, stanowi ważny element w procesie zdobywania niezbędnej wiedzy o świecie, niemożliwej do zdobycia inaczej niż poprzez kontakt z fikcyjnymi fabułami. Rozdziały trzeci i czwarty podejmują analizę schematów narracyjnych obecnych w fantastyce naukowej. Pierwszy z nich skupia się na heterotopijnym, a więc odmiennym i alternatywnym charakterze przestrzeni obecnych w fantastyce naukowej. Odmienność ta sprawia, że przestrzenie fantastyki zawsze są nieprzewidywalne, potencjalnie groźne i obiecujące równocześnie. Taki charakter przestrzeni lub krajobrazu, jak pokazują badania z zakresu psychologii ewolucyjnej, jest dla człowieka najatrakcyjniejszy, co w przypadku fantastyki naukowej zapewnia, że jej treść będzie dla czytelnika interesująca. To uchwycenie i zapewnienie uwagi stanowi zachętę do intelektualnej eksploracji, a ta może odgrywać rolę adaptacyjną. Rozdział czwarty pokazuje, że elementem kluczowym dla przedstawienia fantastycznonaukowego uniezwyklenia poznawczego (cognitive estrangement) jest obecność obrzydzenia. Paradoksalny charakter tego uczucia, wzbudzającego równocześnie odrzucenie i fascynację, domagającego się natychmiastowej uwagi i reakcji, gwarantuje zainteresowanie czytelnika elementem odmienności i, ponownie, otwiera go na szeroką gamę interakcji poznawczych. Przedstawione analizy pozwalają odpowiedzieć na postawione w rozprawie pytania dotyczące schematyczności fantastyki naukowej, jej potencjalnych funkcji poznawczo-adaptacyjnych oraz pokazują użyteczność literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego

The World Made Meme: Discourse and Identity in Participatory Media

This project explores internet memes as public discourse. `Meme' is a term coined by biologist Richard Dawkins to describe the flow, flux, mutation, and evolution of culture, a cultural counter to the gene. But the term has evolved within many online collectives, and is shifting in public discourse. In this emerging sense, `memes' are amateur media artifacts, extensively remixed and recirculated by different participants on social media networks. But there is reason to doubt how broad and inclusive this amateur participation is. If the networks producing memes are truly participatory, they will definitionally facilitate diverse discourses and represent diverse identities. Therefore, we need detailed empirical work on specific participatory sites in order to clarify questions of mediated cultural participation. My goal was a better understanding of discourse and identity in participatory media through an investigation of memes and the collectives producing them. To answer this question of mediated cultural participation, I used a critical discourse analytic method and focused on three criteria indicative of cultural participation: processes, identities, and politics. The results were mixed. First, while the formal processes necessary for making memes were open, they required literacy to engage. Second, while meme collectives were readily and broadly accessible by diverse identities and perspectives, they were gatekept by subcultural insiders who privileged some and marginalized others. Third, while diverse political commentary did occur, it happened in a relatively narrow frame of perspectives. However, these inequalities did not mean polyvocal public participation was absent in meme collectives. Memes were a means to transform established cultural texts into new ones, to negotiate the worth of diverse identities, and to engage in unconventional arguments about public policy and current events. Memes were a mix of old inequalities and new participation

Discourses, Modes, Media and Meaning in an Era of Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our everyday lives – from the political to the economic to the social. Using a multimodal discourse analysis approach, this dynamic collection examines various discourses, modes and media in circulation during the early stages of the pandemic, and how these have impacted our daily lives in terms of the various meanings they express. Examples include how national and international news organisations communicate important information about the virus and the crisis, the public’s reactions to such communications, the resultant (counter-)discourses as manifested in social media posts and memes, as well as the impact social distancing policies and mobility restrictions have had on people’s communication and interaction practices. The book offers a synoptic view of how the pandemic was communicated, represented and (re-)contextualised across different spheres, and ultimately hopes to help account for the significant changes we are continuing to witness in our everyday lives as the pandemic unfolds. This volume will appeal primarily to scholars in the field of (multimodal) discourse analysis. It will also be of interest to researchers and graduate students in other fields whose work focuses on the use of multimodal artefacts for communication and meaning making

Discourses, Modes, Media and Meaning in an Era of Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our everyday lives – from the political to the economic to the social. Using a multimodal discourse analysis approach, this dynamic collection examines various discourses, modes and media in circulation during the early stages of the pandemic, and how these have impacted our daily lives in terms of the various meanings they express. Examples include how national and international news organisations communicate important information about the virus and the crisis, the public’s reactions to such communications, the resultant (counter-)discourses as manifested in social media posts and memes, as well as the impact social distancing policies and mobility restrictions have had on people’s communication and interaction practices. The book offers a synoptic view of how the pandemic was communicated, represented and (re-)contextualised across different spheres, and ultimately hopes to help account for the significant changes we are continuing to witness in our everyday lives as the pandemic unfolds. This volume will appeal primarily to scholars in the field of (multimodal) discourse analysis. It will also be of interest to researchers and graduate students in other fields whose work focuses on the use of multimodal artefacts for communication and meaning making

Organisational phylogenesis : Developing and evaluating a memetic methodology.

This research evaluates the unorthodox proposition that organisational development proceeds through the Darwinian processes of variation, selection and inheritance acting upon a non-genetic replicating code. This new replicator represents the fundamental unit of cultural transmission and was termed by evolutionist, Richard Dawkins, as the meme. The memetic position re-introduces many often neglected, sometimes shunned, evolutionary arguments into social and organisational debate by providing a naturalistic and plausible hereditary element upon which socio-cultural adaptation operates. The popularity of the neologism 'meme' initially grew through rather ad-hoc non-scientific usage on the Internet. For some time, this geekish tendency has tarnished the idea of memetics and impeded serious academic investigation into the subject. A more rigorous philosophical treatment has been provided by Daniel Dennett who has argued that, while a science of memetic cladistics may be both desirable and feasible, it remains unlikely. On the other hand one of Dawkins' most famous critics, Mary Midgley, heralds dark forebodings that one-day memes may be given actual credence. The present study necessitated the adaptation of conventional genealogical and taxonomic methods, for novel application in confirming congruence between actual organisational phylogeny and hereditary traits. One specific requirement was to develop a means of identifying, capturing and codifying such traits as meme strips for phenetic analysis. In order to handle the computational complexity inherent in the phenetic reconstruction algorithms, proprietary software had to be produced. This was extensively tested upon meme strips generated through simulated evolution. Western Christian denominational families provided a source of empirical evidence and demonstrated that the methods could be successfully applied to real organisational forms. A theological phylogeny was reliably reconstructed thereby upholding the hypothesis of cultural descent with modification based on a memetic replication. Further support for the claim was made in conjunction with the rendering of a facilities management market landscape. More importantly however, the results coming from this research suggest that the potential for formulating a science of memetics may be significantly greater than in Dennett original consideration

Directions in abusive language training data, a systematic review: Garbage in, garbage out

Data-driven and machine learning based approaches for detecting, categorising and measuring abusive content such as hate speech and harassment have gained traction due to their scalability, robustness and increasingly high performance. Making effective detection systems for abusive content relies on having the right training datasets, reflecting a widely accepted mantra in computer science: Garbage In, Garbage Out. However, creating training datasets which are large, varied, theoretically-informed and that minimize biases is difficult, laborious and requires deep expertise. This paper systematically reviews 63 publicly available training datasets which have been created to train abusive language classifiers. It also reports on creation of a dedicated website for cataloguing abusive language data hatespeechdata.com. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of open science in this field, and argue that although more dataset sharing would bring many benefits it also poses social and ethical risks which need careful consideration. Finally, we provide evidence-based recommendations for practitioners creating new abusive content training datasets