Interesting article. However I think that even the most objective proponent of evolution would have to say that this thought experiment does nothing to advance the argument. (Perhaps if the code that created the algorithms that created the virtual monkeys had been produced by monkeys?)
Quote: "Each sequence is nine characters long and each is checked to see if that string of characters appears anywhere in the works of Shakespeare. If not, it is discarded. If it does match then progress has been made towards re-creating the works of the Bard. " Had these been real monkeys, someone would have needed to be there to tear the sheet out of the typewriter each time 9 characters were reached (and to do the comparison with the blueprint: the original work of Shakespeare) In the above experiment, someone decided to make the sequence 9 characters (instead of 8, or 10, or 64) each of which changes the probability of "success" of the individual operation. Also the result is compared to a known endpoint (goal) of known complexity. Apples and oranges, to say the least, in comparing with what occurs in nature. Darren Addy Kearney, Nebraska -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
