> > 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?) > [...] > > 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. >
Someone else has pointed out that in fact this was just some guy's way of learning a programming language. But he may have got this idea from Richard Dawkins who uses the Shakespearean monkeys to talk about natural selection. He uses a slightly faster example by getting a program to spit out random characters until they arrive at the string "Methinks 'tis like a weasel", which is a line from Hamlet when the characters are discussing the random shapes that clouds evolve. The algorithm produces a random mutation in each generation which survives into the next generations or not depending on how well adapted it is to its competitive environment. The aim is to show how much more quickly evolution by random mutation and natural selection works than evolution by random mutation alone. B -- 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.
