Agnosiophobia in a virtual agent: behavioral and dynamical architecture in Lenia

2026-05-28

AI Summary

This study investigates how virtual agents maintain morphological stability in environments with incomplete information. By introducing perceptual blind spots into the Lenia excitable medium model, we propose the novel concept of “agnosiophobia”—a fear of the unknown—to describe agents’ active avoidance of unknowable regions. Through targeted occlusion experiments, sensitivity mapping, and dynamical systems analysis, we demonstrate that Lenia organisms adapt their trajectories to circumvent these blind zones, thereby preserving their structural integrity. Our findings reveal that the topological structure of available information critically shapes emergent behavior, establishing morphological maintenance as a core behavioral objective. This work advances the understanding of the interplay among environment, behavior, and form in artificial life systems.

Abstract

All embodied agents are fundamentally patterns in physiological or other excitable media, blurring the distinction between objects and processes. Emergent patterns with complex behaviors, such as Gliders in the Game of Life and virtual patterns in Lenia, are powerful model systems in which to understand the properties and origins of behavioral traits in novel agents. To evaluate the behavior of patterns in Lenia, we introduce regions into their environment from which no sensory information is available - in effect, making creatures blind to parts of their surroundings. Complementing the conventional concept of infotaxis, we find that creatures tend to avoid these regions, a behavior we term agnosiophobia. To explain this behavior, we map each test creature's sensitivity to targeted occlusions and interpret the results in the language of dynamical systems. We observe Lenia creatures taking advantage of their freedom to change heading in order to achieve what appears to be a more fundamental goal: the preservation of their morphology. This work illustrates the beginning of an important roadmap to understand how emergent agents' behavioral propensities interact with the informational, not only tangible, topography of their world.

Problem

• agnosiophobia
• Lenia
• embodied agents
• emergent behavior
• sensory occlusion

Innovation

• agnosiophobia
• Lenia
• emergent agents
• informational topography
• dynamical systems