The Wired article on digital creatures doesn’t support Darwinian evolution as much as you might think. Darwinian evolution requires that living organisms develop from non-living substances, and then increase in complexity, with no input or direction from a higher intelligence. The computer didn’t create itself. The original software didn’t create itself. The very existence of the computer and original software required intelligence—without the input of intelligent, creative human beings, there could be no computers, no software with the ability to develop the ‘digital creatures’ in the first place.
The article also wasn’t clear about what kind of complexity the program was developing. In living organisms, there is specified complexity—specific genes/enzymes have specific functions—amino acids are arranged in such a way that they carry specific information to do a specific job. In these digital creatures, what is the function of the increasingly complex codes that are developed? Do they serve specific purposes? Do their flashes actually mean something?
As far as entropy, it is in force in all systems, open or closed. There is really no such thing as a truly isolated system. The fact that the earth receives energy from the sun does not mean that entropy never occurs on the earth.
Susan
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