Rules of the Game

Abstract

“…the people will exact of their king or priest a strict conformity to those rules, the observance of which is necessary for his own preservation, and consequently for the preservation of his people and the world.”
— James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Vol 1 (1890)

“The only way to learn the rules of this Game of games is to take the usual prescribed course, which requires many years; and none of the initiates could ever possibly have any interest in making these rules easier to learn.”
— Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (1943)

“If the rules of mathematics are the rules of grammar, there is no stupidity involved when we fail to see that a mathematical truth is obvious. The rules of ordinary grammar are not obvious ... They are conveniences without whose aid truths about the sorts of things in the world cannot be communicated from one person to another.”
— Lancelot Hogben, Mathematics for the Million (1936)

Every theory, model, law, institution, behavior, strategy, tactic, and decision is made within a framework of rules. Rules provide both prescriptions and descriptions for admissible behaviors. From murder to multiplication, from metaphysics to music, rules provide the foundations for order and the baseline against which rule-breaking is deemed either creative or criminal. In the physical universe, rules are described as laws and treated as unchanging. In the biological world, rules evolve, giving rise to nervous systems, competition, cooperation, and sociality. In society, rules constrain behavior through law, regulate most forms of exchange, and coordinate patterns of play. Where do rules come from? How many rules does each domain require to balance the certainty necessary for skill and the excess certainty stifling creativity. How are rules broken and thereafter rebuilt more economically or perhaps more often left in ruins? Is there a theory of rules that might connect mathematics, games, sport, and culture? In this Symposium we analyzed the larger world of rule systems. Explored the complexity science of constraints, algorithms, policies, and regulations, all of which allow for the “preservation of people and the world” and promote the “communication of truths.” And asked when the world is no longer the one we want and the truths no longer compatible with the evidence, how then might we discover and create new rule systems compatible with our new reality and the full expression of life?

 

Overview Agenda

*All times in U.S. Mountain Time.*

Friday, October 3rd - Symposium Day One

12:00 PM - 1:15 PM – Arrival & Lunch
1:15 PM – Welcome & Introduction with David Krakauer (President and William H. Miller Professor of Complex Systems, SFI) 
1:30 PM – The Rules of Quantum Mechanics with Seth Lloyd (Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics at MIT)
2:15 PM – Local Rules and Global Coordination with Dana Randall (Professor of Computer Science & Associate Dean at Georgia Institute of Technology, and External Professor at SFI)
3:00 PM – Afternoon Break
3:30 PM – Rules of Animal Cognition with Erica Cartmill (Professor of Cognitive Science, Anthropology, and Animal Behavior at Indiana University, and External Professor at SFI)
4:15 PM – Rule Systems in Music with Dmitri Tymoczko (Professor of Music at Princeton University, and External Professor at SFI)
5:00 PM – Cocktail Reception & Book Signing with Sebastian Junger
5:30 PM – The Anthropology of Rules with Sebastian Junger (Author of "In My Time of Dying" (2024), "The Perfect Storm" (1997), and more)
6:30 PM – Dinner
8:30 PM – Adjourn

 

Saturday, October 4th - Symposium Day Two

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM – Arrival & Breakfast
9:00 AM – Welcome & Introduction with Will Tracy (Vice President for Applied Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute)
9:15 AM – Games without Frontiers: Rules for Social Life with Elizabeth Bruch (Associate Professor of Sociology & Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, and SSC Member and External Professor at SFI)
10:00 AM – Audio Flux and [Breaking] the Rules of Podcasting with Julie Shapiro
10:45 AM – Morning Break
11:15 AM – The Science of Sports Rules with James Holehouse (Program Postdoctoral Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute)
12:00 PM – Lunch
1:15 PM – The Game of Genetic Engineering with Brandon Ogbunu (Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and Professor at SFI) 
2:00 PM – Rules of Urban Growth with Chris Kempes (Professor and SSC Member at the Santa Fe Institute)
2:45 PM – Afternoon Break
3:30 PM – Writing the Rules with Tom McCarthy (Miller Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute, and Author of "C" (2010), "Satin Island" (2015), "The Making of Incarnation" (2021), and more)
4:15 PM – Rules of the Universe: Why Are There Rules at All? with Sean Carroll (Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns' Hopkins University, and Fractal Faculty & External Professor at SFI)
5:00 PM – Adjourn Talks
5:30 PM – Off-Site Reception & Dinner
8:30 PM – Adjourn

 

Sunday, October 5th

SFI Board of Trustees Meeting