Using Logic to Evolve More Logic: Composing Logical Operators via Self-Assembly

In recent work on self-assembly, Barrett and Skyrms (2017) show how a binary logical operator can evolve more quickly in a signaling game when the agents utilize pre-evolved dispositions---as opposed to learning a new disposition from scratch---via template transfer. Their argument is not intended to show how such logical dispositions might evolve in the first place. Further, template transfer does not show how to evolve, e.g., a ternary-input logical operator from a binary-input logical operator. This paper extends their analysis. I begin by analysing simple unary logical operations, rather than binary ones. I then show how binary logical operations can evolve out of unary logical operations via modular composition---a process whereby one game evolves to accept the play of another game as input. Thus, the new models presented here are able to account for phenomena which cannot be accommodated by the models presented in Barrett and Skyrms (2017).