Bak–Sneppen and the Ring of Change: Self-Organized Criticality in Evolution
About this episode
We unpack the Bak-Sneppen model—an ultra-simple, ring-shaped ecosystem where the least-fit species and its neighbors are refreshed at each step, triggering cascades of change. The result is a self-organized critical state with avalanches, a devil’s staircase of activity, and power-law patterns that mirror earthquakes, sandpiles, and other complex systems. Tune in to see how punctuated equilibrium could emerge from internal dynamics, not external triggers.
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