Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:48:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ElderGP_DISSERT.pdf: 2430148 bytes, checksum: e80c00c94f59463e3fe65b2466f0f400 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-21 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The Hiker Dice was a game recently proposed in a software designed by Mara Kuzmich and Leonardo Goldbarg. In the game a dice is responsible for building a trail on an n x m board. As the dice waits upon a cell on the board, it prints the side that touches the surface. The game shows the Hamiltonian Path Problem Simple Maximum Hiker Dice (Hidi-CHS) in trays Compact Nth , this problem is then characterized by looking for a Hamiltonian Path that maximize the sum of marked sides on the board. The research now related, models the problem through Graphs, and proposes two classes of solution algorithms. The first class, belonging to the exact algorithms, is formed by a backtracking algorithm planed with a return through logical rules and limiting the best found solution. The second class of algorithms is composed by metaheuristics type Evolutionary Computing, Local Ramdomized search and GRASP (Greed Randomized Adaptative Search). Three specific operators for the algorithms were created as follows: restructuring, recombination with two solutions and random greedy constructive.The exact algorithm was teste on 4x4 to 8x8 boards exhausting the possibility of higher computational treatment of cases due to the explosion in processing time. The heuristics algorithms were tested on 5x5 to 14x14 boards. According to the applied methodology for evaluation, the results acheived by the heuristics algorithms suggests a better performance for the GRASP algorithm / O Hiker Dice foi um jogo proposto recentemente em um software projetado por Mara Kuzmich e Leonardo Goldbarg. No jogo um dado ? respons?vel pela constru??o de uma trilha sobre um tabuleiro n x m. O dado ao visitar uma c?lula do tabuleiro imprime (marca) a face que entra em contato com a superf?cie. O jogo apresenta o Problema do Caminho Hamiltoniano Simples M?ximo Hiker Dice (CHS-HiDi) em Tabuleiros Compactos de ordem N , esse problema ? ent?o caracterizado por buscar um caminho hamiltoniano que maximize a soma dos faces do dado marcados no tabuleiro. A pesquisa presentemente relatada, modela o problema atrav?s de Grafos, e prop?e duas classes de algoritmos de solu??o. A primeira classe, pertencente aos algoritmos exatos, ? constitu?da por um algoritmo em backtracking aparelhado com um retorno realizado atrav?s de regras l?gicas e limite da melhor solu??o encontrada. A segunda classe de algoritmos ? constitu?da por metaheur?sticas do tipo Computa??o Evolucion?ria, Busca Local Aleatorizada e GRASP (Greed Randomized Adaptative Search). Para os algoritmos foram criados tr?s operadores espec?ficos da seguinte forma: de reestrutura??o, de recombina??o com duas solu??es e construtivo guloso aleat?rio. O algoritmo exato foi testado em tabuleiros 4x4 a 8x8 esgotando a possibilidade de tratamento computacional dos casos maiores em virtude da explos?o em tempo de processamento. Os algoritmos heur?sticos foram testados nos tabuleiros 5x5 at? 14x14. Segundo a metodologia de avalia??o utilizada, os resultados encontrados pelos algoritmos heur?sticos sugere um melhor potencial de desempenho para o algoritmo GRASP

This research emerges from an observation that Douglas Adams’s Hitch Hiker Series is not merely characterised by light-hearted comedy, but is underpinned by intricate philosophical ideas, especially those of twentieth century Existentialism and the related notion of absurdity. The study also investigates the interlaced functions of Adams’s fantasy and landscapes of alterity. Paradoxically, Adams’s fantastical creatures serve to illuminate the human condition and the follies and monstrosities that lurk at the heart of humanity. Not only does Adams’s fantasy mirror the maladies of twentieth century society, thus serving a satirical function, but it is also a mechanism for constructing meaning in the shape of alternative realities. Concepts related to alterity, such as simulation (Baudrillard), the structure of ‘reality’, dreaming (Descartes) and parallel universes are investigated as building blocks of Adams’s fantastic story space. Furthermore, the ideas of Sartre, Camus and other originators of Existentialism, a philosophy which considers the futility of existence and the compulsion to construct subjective meaning, are elucidated and explored in relation to Adams’s work. Existentialist concepts such as facticity and angst, as well as the Beckettian universe and the Theatre of the Absurd, are also discussed in the light of the Hitch Hiker series. Adams’s extensive satirical comment is also emphasised in this study. Adams’s satire does not merely castigate the evils of twentieth century society such as capitalism and bureaucracy, it also unmasks universal human vices such as pomposity and grandiosity, vices that are rooted in the rejection of objective morality. Although Adams comments on the folly at the heart of society, he also presents the reader with an alternative: the subjective reconstruction of one’s inner world in an attempt to spin individual webs of meaning from the nothingness at the world’s core. This study also investigates the ambiguous concept of madness as a subjective reality born of the necessity to construct meaning, and analyses Adams’s alternative landscapes based on the suggestion that ‘much madness is divinest sense’ (Emily Dickenson, in Ferguson et al., 1996: 1015). / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / English / MA / unrestricted