Using a Self-Organizing Map

Before considering in more detail how to prepare a SOM, we shall make a short detour to learn how the information that the SOM provides can be used. 

The map can also be used as a predictive tool. If the details of another animal (a unicorn, perhaps) are fed in, this animal will find a place on the map near the animals that it most strongly resembles. By noting where the animal appears and taking into account what we know about animals in the same region of the map, we may be able to discover previously unknown information (for example, that unicorns prefer a temperate climate). 

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For many problems, rather different solutions of similar fitness exist. To obtain a quick overview of the structure of the underlying high-dimensional fitness landscape, we used a self-organizing map (SOM) that was developed originally by Kohonen [14] in this study. Figure 10.1 shows a nonlinear mapping of a seven-... 

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