Parable of the Polygons – a playable post on the shape of society

Our cute segregation sim is based off the work of Nobel Prize-winning game theorist,
Thomas Schelling. Specifically, his 1971 paper,

Dynamic Models of Segregation.
We built on top of this, and showed how a small demand for diversity can
desegregate a neighborhood. In other words, we gave his model a happy ending.

Schelling’s model gets the general gist of it, but of course, real life is more nuanced.
You might enjoy looking at real-world data, such as W.A.V. Clark’s 1991 paper,
A Test of the Schelling Segregation Model.

There are other mathematical models of institutionalized bias out there!

Male-Female Differences: A Computer Simulation
shows how a small gender bias compounds as you move up the corporate ladder.

The Petrie Multiplier
shows why an attack on sexism in tech is not an attack on men.

Today’s Big Moral Message™ is that demanding a bit of diversity
in your spaces makes a huge difference overall. Look at
Plz Diversify Your Panel,
an initiative where overrepresented speakers pledge not
to speak on panels without diverse representation.

Our “playable post” was inspired by Bret Victor’s

Explorable Explanations and Ian Bogost’s

procedural rhetoric.

Donate to Diversity!

Black Girls Code
– gives coding lessons to girls of color

Girls Who Code
– teaches high school girls to code

Code 2040
– helps blacks & latina/os get into tech

Code Liberation
– free workshops to help women make videogames

Nicky’s Patreon
– makes public domain playables (such as this one!)