Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 11:23:03 +0100
From: Peter Bentley <P.Bentley@cs.ucl.ac.uk>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Replicators: why encoding
Mario Vaneechoutte wrote:
>
> Hans-Cees Speel wrote:
> >
> > What I do like is your arguments on why code is so important. This is
> > a very valid and important theme in any evolutionary theory
> > involving code: WHY IS CODE NEEDED, or stated differently: WHY IS
> > THERE NO EVOLUTION WITHOUT CODE? Or WHY DID REPLICATORS WITH MORE
> > ELABORATED CODE SURVIVE?
>
> This is a great way of questioning (by formulating the question in all
> different manners). The manner you asks questions already determines
> whether you will be able to get answers from nature (someone said this
> in a better way, but I don't carry a library inside my head, like
> Timothy Perper).
> The third question is the right way to ask. Answering the questions
> shows why......
There is an important reason why evolution seems to 'prefer' code -
it allows a highly complex phenotype to be represented and modified by
a substantially simpler genotype. This has the advantage of simplifying
the problem of evolution (smaller search-space), and reducing the no.
of generations needed to evolve to fit a changing environment.
Peter.
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