Towards a New Approach in Social Simulations: Meta-language

Abstract

In this paper we will present a framework for bridging micro to macro emergence, macro-to-micro social causation, and the dialectic between emergence and social causation. We undertake a cultural approach for modeling communication and symbolic interaction between agents as the key element of connecting these three aspects. A cultural approach entails modeling cognitive agents who are not only capable of representing knowledge but also able to generate meanings through their experiential activities. We offer a meta-language approach allowing dynamic meaning generation during the interactions of the agents. This framework is implemented to a social simulation model. There are four important implications of the model: First, model shows a dynamic setup where agents can generate and elaborate multiplicity of meanings. Second, it exemplifies how individual mental models can interact with each other and evolve. Third, we see that a thickly coherent cultural background is not necessary for the emergence of embedded social networks, a thin coherence such as opposition maps would be sufficient to observe their dynamic formation. Fourth, exchange of meanings through successful sense-making practices generates a social anchoring process.