A Simulation of Self-organized Plastic Actors in an Elastic Network

Here we intend to re-examine Axelrod’s ‘adaptive culture model,’ i.e., a simulation of the dissemination of culture through social interaction proceeding by local convergence and resulting an emergence of global polarization at some degree (Axelrod, 1997). Our purpose is twofold: (i) to increase the produced relatively low heterogeneity in Axelrod’s model and (ii) to explore how the social network might change when actors are permitted to modify their links through their interactions. Thus, by increasing the range of actors’ plasticity and allowing them to perform both convergent and divergent interactions, the level of attained global diversity also increases. Moreover, by allowing actors to follow their intrinsic biases in linking with others, implied from their predispositions to convergent or divergent interactions, the elastic dynamic network turns out to be self-organizing. Finally, diffusion patterns produced by the rigidity or persistence of certain actors on invariant interactions are examined too.