Narrative Economics is the study of how narratives convey values
and emotions, how they spread like pathogens, thus influencing
society and the economy. In order to understand recessions, for
example, it is not enough to understand the cybernetic control
loops behind them, but one must also include the human factor
with its irrational, emotionally driven actions. Above all, this
includes our belief in stories that create meaning, the
narratives. Simulating the dynamic system behavior of narratives
helps us to understand the underlying dynamics of history, why
people acted the way they did, and thus history itself. These
infectious narratives behave similarly to pathogens and can be
simulated with the help of mathematical models.
This web app was specifically developed to simulate the dynamic
system behavior of narratives in society using cellular automata
and mathematical modeling. By using cellular automata, in which
the individual cells are able to represent character values such
as political views, skepticism, liberalism, or existing
knowledge through mathematical modeling, it is possible to
simulate this complex system behavior in a simplified way and
thus get a feeling of how narratives spread in society.
Narratives can emerge spontaneously, evolve, be in competition,
or symbiosis with other narratives, and can also be forgotten or
dismissed. The user can design different forms of societies,
such as pluralistic, populistic, or a society that is skeptical
towards any form of societal change. Each color represented here
represents a narrative, the more similar the colors the more
similar the narrative. Thus, through the complex interaction of
narratives and their unfolding, beautiful and fascinating
landscapes emerge. Explore the dynamic spread and development of
narratives in different social systems.