Serious User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,205
Greece
|
Quote:
Where did all this information come from? And how can it be maintained?
I'm happy to see an informed post. To answer your question, the information was evolved with the method you have just described. The first organisms in earth didn't had the same information and complexity that is found today, some billiom years later.
I was very lucky to be the pupil of Dr David Corne, author of many EA books, and currently teaching in my university. Out of the many conversations with this poor guy trying to teach me the very beautifull concept of EAs, this is what stuck with me the most...
He said.. The theory is given:
1. a population of organisms which have a lifetime and which can reproduce in a challenging/changing environment
2. a way of continually generating diversity in new 'child' organisms.
And that's the only two rules that 'govern' our universe. Even the survival of the fittest principle has emerged by these two rules(organisms which tend to have healthy, fertile children will dominate(i.e. their descendents will).
So the answer to your question is, complexity of the genomes themselves has evolved through years by natural evolution. By following the principle i have just described, you can see how genomes weren't the start but something that has evolved over the years as well(don't ask me what started it all as EAs can't and don't attempt to answer this question).
Quote:
Mutations occur either from 1)inheritance from parents (mom and dad are mutants) or 2)acquired during the lifetime by environmental factors(radiation,etc) or through copying errors made during cell division.
Chance or random? Yes mutation is random if it has been acquired during your lifetime, but mutation is not so random if you have acquired it from your parents through inheritance.
Just want to clarify here, that mutations are always random, and never biased or inherited. I'm sure we're on the same page but maybe someone else would find this post informative.. Random mutations occur, as you correctly stated, through copying errors, although i wouldn't call them errors per se.. that's how natural evolution works. If there was no mutations, there would be no evolution.
Evolution happens by mix and matching the Selected pairs of a given population. The selection method of our universe is survival of the fittest. The children of the selected pair is a crossover of its parent's 'information' and a tiny percentage of a mutation happening(introducing some NEW information). The child is added to the population and the process begins again.
After the child has been mutated, it is not called a mutation any more. It's its new... 'data', and will possibly be inherited to its ancestors, depending on the crossover(which also has random elements).
Thus, mutation and cross-over are completely random. Natural Evolution is slightly biased to the fittest, only because of its selection method.
Makes you wonder, 'who' created this world, and why are these two rules in place(considering you accept this theory). I like to make my own theories depending on this very concept about God and our meaning of life. You're welcome to do the same.
Cheers,
Aris
|
