Evolution

Updated December 01, 2019

Evolution is a behavior that emerges in any system that has:

  1. Mutation
  2. Heredity
  3. Selection

Evolutionary systems often generate unexpected solutions. Nature selects for good enough.

There is no such thing as advantageous in a general sense. There is only advantageous for the circumstances you’re living in. — Olivia Judson, Santa Fe Institute

Evolving systems exist in punctuated equilibrium.

Questions:

  • What systems (beside biology) exhibit evolutionary behavior? Remember, evolution happens in any system with mutation, heredity, selection.
  • What happens to an evolutionary system when you remove mutation? Heredity? Selection?
  • Do you see a system with one of these properties? How can you introduce the other two?

Resources: Evolutionary Systems on Wikipedia.