Also, all of the computer simulated evolutions are by definition "flawed".
Think about it. Are random numbers really random? Are random events
correlated with random numbers? in other words, is a random something
correlated with a random something else? The basic life units in Tierra are
very different from real-life life units, and the criterion for a life unit
seems arbitrary anyways. All we can hope for from this computer experiments,
IMHO, is the realization that a computer can create cool pictures given a set
of rules to follow (even randomicity in computers must follwed certain rules).
This is not surprising anyways. From the quantum mechanical theory of heat,
which is random and unpredictable at the atomic/molecular level, we get an
"exact" equation for diffusion of heat in the macro-world. Many of the laws
of physics are so. The combined behavior of a great number of particles that
are seemingly acting unpredictably at the atomic/molecular level, show
behaviours in the macro-world that follow _exact_ physical laws. Are the
Tierra programs simulating life of inert particles? Can you simulate the
history of Ingland? Don't forget, evolution is nothing more than history,
that is, given that evolution actually happens (and I mean macrO-evolution).
Salu2
> RE: David Berlinski, part 1
>
> Brian Harper