Re: Evolution ( was Re: virus: Re:sociological change)

Alex Williams (thantos@decatl.alf.dec.com)
Mon, 30 Dec 1996 09:08:01 -0500 (EST)


> I agree that evolution is unpredictable but that doesn't mean it is
> random. Evolution is comprised of the twin processes of variation
> and selection; only the variation is (apparently) random.

I wasn't thinking of `selection' as part of the `evolutionary' process
at that point, though obviously it is. Too much ALife work where the
Reaper's a seperate chunk of code from the Mutator/Reproducer.

Mind you, that variation /has/ to be pretty much random. If you start
out with a pre-defined mesh in state-space you're really likely to
bias the eventual population.