[alife] New Book Inspired by Novelty Search

Kenneth Stanley kstanley at eecs.ucf.edu
Sat May 23 14:59:26 PDT 2015


Dear Colleagues,

As many members of this list have taken an interest in the novelty search
algorithm and its inherent critique of objective-driven optimization, Joel
Lehman and I thought that the publication of our new book, Why Greatness
Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective, would be of interest to the
list:

At Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Greatness-Cannot-Planned-Objective/dp/3319155237

At Springer: http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319155234

The book takes the ideas in novelty search and explores their implications
much more broadly than in the past.  In particular, it examines how
objectives can impede innovation and discovery throughout our culture, and
on the flipside how less objective approaches can lead to surprising
achievements.  Spanning topics from the funding of science to the
improvement of education, the book extends what was initially an argument
about search algorithms to a broad societal critique.  It thereby connects
topics in AI and Alife with broader cultural and institutional issues to
present a unified theory of discovery and innovation.  We hope it sparks a
useful conversation and welcome your feedback!

Best,

Ken Stanley

 

P.S. You can hear a couple interviews about the book at these links:

http://www.santaferadiocafe.org/science/2015/03/24/ken-stanley/

http://reportfromsantafe.com/episodes/view/293/ken-stanley-author-why-greatn
ess-cannot-be-planned-the-myth-of-the-objective/

 



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