Rules & patterns playground
Change a local rule, take a step, and observe the larger pattern. Predict before you run.
MIT’s original projects were physical objects with computation. These are our screen-based adaptations, not MIT products or replicas. They illustrate rules and feedback; they do not prove how a real community behaves.
Blocks: write a harbor rule
A program joins a condition to an action. This invented model receives five cargo units each turn and normally moves four.
The condition is checked after new cargo arrives and before cargo moves. Extra capacity applies only to that turn. Real transport needs staff, vessels, funds, and safety decisions.
Compare with the island supply model →Beads: change a neighbor’s rule
A numbered signal moves along six nodes. Pass moves it forward; Reflect reverses its direction; Stop absorbs it. Endpoints reflect it back. These are abstract signal nodes, not wampum beads or a model of Wampanoag culture.
Current node: 1
Balls: inspect motion as data
Move a modeled ball along a 100-unit strip. A step updates its velocity, then its position. Edges reflect motion. These are invented units, not a real experiment or a sensor-equipped MIT BitBall.
Position: 10.0 · Velocity: 4.0 · Steps: 0
Try a tabletop rolling-ball investigation with adult-approved materials. Compare measured motion with this simplified model, and name what the model leaves out.
Badges: follow a message
Six fictional meeting stations exchange one announcement. Station A starts with it. When two selected stations meet, either one that has the message passes it to the other. This deterministic rule is not a model of belief, consent, or real information accuracy.
Can you reach every station in five connections? Can you make several connections that reach no new station? Explain why the pattern changes.