Re: Topics on influence

[David Fotland <fotland@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>This is just an idea. What other units of influence exist?
>
>I think it is important to undestand the unit of influence. The ad hoc
>solutions that just flood arbitrary numbers around the board are perhaps
>not satisfactory. I don't claim they aren't useful, though.

I don't think we are flooding arbitrary numbers exactly.  We all have some
rationale for the choices we make.  

I like best the idea that the influnce of each color measures the
probability that a stone of that color can be placed there and live.

Michael Reiss comes close to this with his probability that a stone
can be placed at a point and be connected to a living group.

Patterns can obviously help make calculate this kind of influence.
For example, patterns of edge shapes that can be invaded.

Many Faces radiates 1/distance from each stone an sums at each
point for each color.  I picked the 1/distance function, since
in two dimensions a completely surrounded area will have constant
value inside no matter how big.  This makes the influence function
a little optimistic.  The constant value is chosen so that a wall
will radiate a total of two points per stone. 

David