Conventions spreading in open-ended systems

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple open-ended model demonstrating how a shared vocabulary emerges through an agreement mechanism, leading to a phase transition toward consensus despite unlimited individual word invention.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal model capturing the emergence of shared language in open-ended systems and analyzes the conditions for a phase transition to consensus.

Findings

Existence of a phase transition toward consensus

Finite and small number of states despite unlimited word invention

Scaling behavior in memory and time analyzed

Abstract

We introduce a simple open-ended model that describes the emergence of a shared vocabulary. The ordering transition toward consensus is generated only by an agreement mechanism. This interaction defines a finite and small number of states, despite each individual having the ability to invent an unlimited number of new words. The existence of a phase transition is studied by analyzing the convergence times, the cognitive efforts of the agents and the scaling behavior in memory and time