Intrinsitivity

What I find most interesting when comparing the new evolution of technology with the old evolution of ourselves and other biological life forms is that the former is essentially beginning at an optimal level for their intended uses, while we, for example, "began" as the most primitive living things imaginable. At an even more foundational level, however, there is no difference between technological and biological evolution in that both evolve from more primitive or less useful iterations.

Evolutionary algorithms now surpass human designers – tech – 28 July 2007 – New Scientist Tech

CHARLES DARWIN’s theory of evolution has been the source of much controversy since its publication in 1859, most recently involving the intelligent design (ID) lobby in the US. Now the theory is fuelling another debate, although for once the battle lines have nothing to do with religion.Instead of pitting God against science, the emerging spat centres on evolutionary algorithms (EAs), which mimic the processes of natural selection and random mutation by "breeding", selecting and re-breeding possible designs to produce the fittest ones.

Tags: evolutionaryalgorithms, evolution