one generation is propagated from the previous, by selection and reproduction of the most successful designs, under our very eyes. Cars or animals?
So we know without doubt that this process is used by intelligent agents, we know it works where survival of the fittest is already first granted an arrival of the fittest to select from.
Whether nature can accidentally, by pure blind chance, create significantly fitter designs for nature to choose from- to the extent that a single cell can fully morph into a human being-
this is NOT something we can verify, no way around that, it's a very interesting question.
Oh, we have verified that evolutionary processes can and do increase the fitness of organisms in nature through adaptations. I have provided multiple examples from cichlid fish to pesticide resistance to DDT in mosquitoes.
Yes, another good analogy of the algorithm, just like car design-
I have used them regularly myself for many years, in fact this is precisely what lead to the first cracks in my previously staunch belief in evolution. I got the same results everyone else did, including Dawkins:
....The computer examines the mutant nonsense phrases, the 'progeny' of the original phrase, and chooses the one which, however slightly, most resembles the target phrase, METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL.
By repeating the procedure, a randomly generated sequence of 28 letters and spaces will be gradually changed each generation. The sequences progress through each generation:
Generation 01: WDLTMNLT DTJBKWIRZREZLMQCO P [2]
Generation 02: WDLTMNLT DTJBSWIRZREZLMQCO P
Generation 10: MDLDMNLS ITJISWHRZREZ MECS P
Generation 20: MELDINLS IT ISWPRKE Z WECSEL
Generation 30: METHINGS IT ISWLIKE B WECSEL
Generation 40: METHINKS IT IS LIKE I WEASEL
Generation 43: METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
Dawkins demonstrates that random processes can be used to create a pre-determined outcome.
And I agree entirely, it can be a very efficient way to do so. As you note, we know for sure that this method is utilized by intelligent agents. Whether or not nature can do the same accidentally- the jury is still out, but more and more we recognize the distinct fingerprints of ID v blind chance
This is completely wrong. If we knew what design or code we wanted, we would not be using iterative evolutionary and genetic algorithms and optimization schemes at all. We would just code or design it directly. Actual usage of Genetic and Evolutionary algorithms seek to find solutions to design and optimization problems that are
unknown.
if a die keeps rolling a six, is this evidence that random chance prefers the number 6? or that the die is loaded?
'beneficial' is a subjective term, one of the great problems is that the benefit needs to be significant- nobody will select a car that gets .01% better gas mileage. The analogy doesn't fit too well for life, because it gets much much more difficult.
In evolution through natural selection, a mutation with 0.01% selection advantage
will certainly be chosen over neutral variants with a high probablity. Another way in which natural selection differs from human selection.
It can identify and choose and fix even very small improvements in phenotype. Here is the math.
On the Fixation Process of a Beneficial Mutation in a Variable Environment | Genetics
Here is some interesting homework
if a female gorilla has an average of 4 offspring in a lifetime, what competitive advantage, as a percentage, does that gorilla need to have acquired over the others, by accidental mutation, in order for that mutation to increase her offspring from 4 to 5?
an insignificant mutation cannot significantly alter the gene pool, and this is borne out in life, observation, experiment, simulation, you name it. 'nature' would have no means of specifically preserving insignificant benefits for a rainy day.
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Made irrelevant by previous considerations. A mutaant allele that increase the mean number of offsprings from 4 to 4.04, will also be selected for over the generations.
In general of course,, we agree, a random pile of bricks is arguably a more 'complex' pattern to describe than a neat brick wall right?.
No. Both are simple, though the random pile is simpler as random distribution produces simple statistical measures that capture the "group" distribution of the bricks more easily than a well arranged brick wall. You need to understand what complexity is and how to measure it.
Centre for Complexity Science
In a word, entropy- deterioration, decline, collapse,- not superior functionality of design- car or animal again
entropy
- 2.
lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.
synonyms: deterioration, degeneration, crumbling, decline, degradation, decomposition, breaking down, collapse; More
If you are going to use the second law then you have to use the scientific definition of entropy, as the layman dictionary definition does not follow the second law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy .
In statistical thermodynamics, entropy (usual symbol S) (Greek:Εντροπία, εν + τρέπω) is a measure of the number of microscopic configurations Ω that a thermodynamic system can have when in a state as specified by certain macroscopic variables. Specifically, assuming that each of the microscopic configurations is equally probable, the entropy of the system is the
natural logarithm of that number of configurations, multiplied by the
Boltzmann constant kB (which provides consistency with the original thermodynamic concept of entropy discussed below, and gives entropy the
dimension of
energy divided by
temperature). Formally,
S = K * Ln (Omega)
Specifically scientific entropy measures the
amount of hidden information present in the microscopic states of a system. Thus the second law basically states:- "For a system completely disconnected from the outside world, the amount of hidden information in the microscopic states of the system tends to increase with time."