Darwinian poetry

[arcticpenguin]

Darwinian poetry (http://www.codeasart.com/poetry/darwin.html)

Ok, here's the idea: starting with a whole bunch (specifically 1,000) randomly generated groups of words (our "poems"), we are going to subject them to a form of natural selection, killing off the "bad" ones and breeding the "good" ones with each other. If enough generations go by, and if the gene pool is rich enough, we should eventually start to see interesting poems emerge.

The cool part is that YOU are the arbiter of what constitutes "good" and "bad" poetry. Once you start, you will be presented with two poems. In all likelihood they will both be abysmal pieces of nonsensical garbage. That's ok. All you have to do is read them both and pick the one you find more appealing, for whatever reason. Your decision might be based on a single word that you happen to like. It doesn't matter. Just pick whichever one strikes your fancy.

Once you choose a poem, your vote will be recorded and two more poems will appear. Keep doing this for as long as you like, and definitely come back frequently.

Over time the poems picked by you, and I hope by thousands of other people, will interbreed and more and more interesting poems will emerge. It could take a while. Weeks...months...I don't know. It all depends on how many people participate, and how often.

[Yahweh]

Poem 1

though eyes closed loved

send the life loved
to be clutching eyeless
do else in of life

come


Poem 2

where held twice stuck soon one
revoking of shield in blood
to be throne he listens when soft liveness


I voted for poem 2...
Survival of the fittest... and most poetic...

[Skat Bo]

Interesting idea. I went through it for awhile. They didn't seem to improve over time, but five minutes time is hardly enough to constitute a big change. Definately an interesting idea though. Kudos on finding it.

[Yahweh]

I thought of poisoining the gene pool by deliberately choosing the worse of the 2 poems, but they are random garble words... so I'm choosing at random...

[Skat Bo]

Do you think that it will actually start generating poems that make sense any time soon. What I saw wasn't anywhere close. Just random words, like Yahweh said.

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by Skat Bo
Definately an interesting idea though. Kudos on finding it.
It was easy; I found it on slashdot.

[JamesM]

I'm curious - if the 'parents' chosen for crossover are chosen randomly, doesn't this mean that the poem population will get 'fitter' a lot more slowly than if Roulette Wheel selection was used?

[Brian]

I'm going to vote 500 times and then not vote for a few years then come back and vote 500 more times. etc..

[Floyt]

These things are evolving fast!

hellhound meteorites
defend dejectedly
in life the glimpsing
one wept enough

The phrase "one wept enough" seems to be a very competitive critter, it crops up in about one of three poems. Well, I vote for it every time :wink:

cheers
floyt

[Jon_in_london]

Dejected moaning voices
calling from the knife edged
abyss
Dying loss of depressive what a complete load of absolute f*cking bollocks!!! That not fkcking poetry!! What the fjck is it with some people! just string toghether a whole lot of really depp and meaninfull sounding words and phrases and whoop-de-fricken doo!!!!!!!!instant sodding poetry!! how that much take so much talent!!you must be so deep anananand... clever.....wow!! thats sounds so nice!!!!!!!! God I hate all you fecking 'poets' and wish you would have a nsty car crash wherein you get frickin paralysed but are able to watch your entire family die a slow and painfull death and then the petrol tank lights up and you get burnt alive!!!

AAAARRGHHH!!!

[/rant]

[Yahweh]

After a while, they are going to see that evolution is a lot more complex than this game thats been set up. I'm sure, in the near future, the author of this site is going to be fed up that his system isnt working, and he'll fabricate some kind of large (but ficticious) poetic masterpiece.

I should know, I am a hobby programmer, its extremely hard to get your programs to do anything remotely "intelligent".

[Floyt]

Well, it's not as if he is setting out to "reproduce evolution" -

Quote:
---
we are going to subject them to a form of natural selection, killing off the "bad" ones and breeding the "good" ones with each other. If enough generations go by, and if the gene pool is rich enough, we should eventually start to see interesting poems emerge.
---

- and a form of natural selection it definitely is, random chop-chops and survival of the interesting.

And look at this -

---
sonnets sifting millstones
sifting millstones you frostbitten silver turned treetops
life loved
to be

sorcerer wine
---

whoopee! :D
This is pure modern poetry technique! Already looks quite successful to me...

(Good thing I don't have to drive a car through London, though. :rolleyes: )

[JamesM]

Originally posted by Yahweh
After a while, they are going to see that evolution is a lot more complex than this game thats been set up.


Well, it's just a slightly unsophisticated genetic algorithm he's got going here. They're pretty widely-used in optimisation algorithms - it should improve the poems to a certain extent, even if just ends up with the average poem having 4 or 5 nice bits in it rather than the 1 or 2 (or 0) the starting poems are likely to have.


I'm sure, in the near future, the author of this site is going to be fed up that his system isnt working, and he'll fabricate some kind of large (but ficticious) poetic masterpiece.


Now that would be funny, if he just suddenly announced that the experiment was over and the poem had been optimised and the final entry was word for word "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" by William Blake.

[Floyt]

Still running, and getting more refined - by now about half the text-lets could pass for a conscious effort.

Vide # 10000:

their dead never crowd my moon
they blow bloom high red
you and
her question
is and
was

teehee :)