Digital Darwin

An anonymous reader writes "Using genetic algorithms to breed strings of computer code graphically, this week's Nature magazine describes results from Caltech and Michigan State. Their program is Avida. While they mainly mimic mutation, not genetic cross-over [or inheritance (thus wiping away much memory of initial conditions)], their simulations show how a short-term backward step in survival strategies can generate innovative advances. It is not unlike running a maze which necessarily involves testing alot of dead-ends, and thus shares the graphical look of Conway's classic Game of Life." Here's a National Geographic story about this as well, or see their press release.

Comments

Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

...their simulations show how a short-term backward step in survival strategies can generate innovative advances.

Sounds similar to what brought the great amount of development power to the Free Software movement. When people are stuck with something as uninnovative as Windows for so long, nature will eventually devise a workaround to the previous lack of competition to stimulate the industry.

Re:I've used genetic algorithms

[b-baggins]

All this program does is take an existing gene pool, introduce random mutation, and stress it.

This has only been going on for, let me see, since mankind first bred cows to increase their milk production?

Here's what this and all genetic algrorithms do NOT address:

Getting the genetic code initially from a bunch of extremely unstable chemicals that do NOT want to combine naturally.

Louis Pasteur demonstrated a couple of centuries ago that spontaneous generation was junk science. Maybe someday evolutionists will finally take a look at his work.