EvC Forum: Can the theory of evolution be applied to non-living things?

Parasomnium writes:

Lam, could you please respond to Re: TOE for life only? (Message 22 of Thread What are common creationist strawmen?)?

Ok.

Lam, you disappoint me. Your analogy is flawed, surely you must realise you are mixing levels here.

Although I did not take offense in this statement, I find it very inappropriate that you actually stated this thought. I don't care if you are a professor at the university of imperial germania or a beggar in Nigeria, it is inappropriate for you to treat someone else as though he is beneath you. By stating that you are disappointed, it implied that you were setting up a situation (or a test) and expected me (which this statement also implied to be one of your students or apprentice) to answer in a certain way that you can grade me.

I would have let this go, but your other posts sounded just as arrogant and I can almost see the impression that you are belittling other people. I strongly advice you to drop this attitude if you want people to treat you seriously later on.

Those objects in your programme didn’t have real mass, but they had something more appropriate for a simulation of gravity, namely a simulated mass.

I can also say that those beings in your program didn't really express those characteristics, that they were doing what they were programed to do. Mainly, I could say that your artificial lifeforms have simulated characteristics, that they're not really carrying out evolution after all.

That’s why the programme could tell you how those objects would interact if they were real world objects with real mass. Just as real gravity doesn’t have an effect on the simulated objects in your programme, the simulation of gravity doesn’t have an effect on the real objects on your desk. Like I said, you are mixing levels.

I could also say that the information you put in to your computer would interact if they were real world objects with real live characteristics. We know that certain natural disasters in nature cause certain natural selection to occur. However, in short of destroying your computer, I fail to see how a natural disaster could affect your simulated lifeforms.

By the way, the phrase "you are mixing levels" is quite annoying.

Well, there is an important difference between gravity and evolution. On the one hand, gravity cannot be implemented on a computer, because you cannot put real mass into a programme. The best you can do is a simulation. Evolution, on the other hand, basically deals with information, which makes it perfectly possible to implement it on a computer, because you can put real information into a programme.

The 2 theories are only different in your mind in that aspect. Evolution doesn't deal with information. We rely on information to determine evolution, but evolution involves real life interactions between real live beings. Based on your loose interpretation, I could also claim that evolution can be applied to our social structure, that the poor should all die. I could also claim that evolution works for the "evolution" of sports. In America, sports certain sports have certain seasons. This is why soccer is having a tough time competing for popularity in the states.

Oh fudge, I'm rambling.

I start with a set of itineraries of poor quality, in that each and every one of them will send the travelling salesman all over the place, making him travel longer than necessary. They are of poor quality because they are randomly generated. Then I let my programme do it’s thing on those itineraries and I end up with a population of them in which each is much more efficient than any one in the original set. Real poor quality information has evolved into real high quality information. So my programme is not merely a simulation of an evolution, it is actually carrying one out.

It still sounds to me like a simulation demonstrating the effects of evolution.

I’m sorry, but I think you haven’t even come close to showing this.

You are probably right.

Yes. Memes.

This is what I found on the word meme on http://www.dictionary.com:

-A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

If this is not the meaning of the word that you meant, please tell me.

This is a different use of the word evolution in a different sense than what we mean by biological evolution. However, with this reasoning, I can say that the theory of gravity can also be applied to people. We know that 2 objects that have mass are attracted. We also know that 2 people are "attracted" to each other. Therefore, the theory of gravity just applied to the 2 people.

Either that, or brushing your teeth is dangerous for the brain.

Well, I'd like to get my morning breath out of the way before I go out to meet brave new people in the brave new world.

Here is where you get your morning breath from.

The Laminator

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