Cellular Automata And Natural Selection

[bisclavret]

I have had light reading on cellular automata from articles by Stephen Wolfram. I've gathered that he represents a group of people(although Wolfram's project is broader and more ambitious as he proclaims) who try to show that evolution may not be necessarily Darwinian. The patterns that emerge out of the simple rules (via Boolean operators and group theoretic operations) seem to effect a complexity that could not be simply described under a Darwinian framework. Anybody in this forum ever delved into this topic?

[encephalon]

I got into CA for a good two years straight, and the implications go far beyond that of evolution. It shows that the world, in all of its complexity, really could only stem from a few key (boolean) principles, and the discovery of those principles could signal a profound change in our understanding of the universe--as well as our ability to manipulate it towards our own desires.

That said, I think some of Wolfram's work is a bit far-fetched.. not so much in the work itself, but in what he claims it to be. Basically, he says things like "because this algorithm generates very similar patterns to that on a nautilus shell, the patterns on a nautilus shell must come from an algorithm such as this one."

For someone that exalts boolean logic as Wolfram does, he doesn't mind much the illogical nature of such a statement. It's like saying "because I can paint clouds to near perfection, someone must have painted the clouds in a similar fashion." The premise presumes the conclusion.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

It's all quite disgustingly fascinating, isn't it? :)

Have you ever heard of Stephen Jay Gould's "Punctuated equilibrium" theory? That's pretty cool stuff aswell.

-Alex

[bisclavret]

Have you ever heard of Stephen Jay Gould's "Punctuated equilibrium" theory?
Isn't that a neo-Darwinian concept of speciation where it is assumed that isolated groups at the peripheries of a certain species, as opposed to groups with relatively large populations of the same species are more likely to bring about or to be affected by mutation? I agree with you that greener pastures await in the field of theoretical biology thus making it cool.
I am more interested though with the patterns generated in cellular automata, but I have to admit I have not had the opportunity of playing around with it even in such a simple PL like C++ :( I am curious though encephalon, is there anyway it can be used in mathematical biology? Is it widely accepted in theoretical bio? or is it just another way of generating mathematical tapestries like the Mandelbrot set? :huh: I have to admit after seeing patterns of pyramids and more pyramids, I could not see its implications in the physical sciences..

[encephalon]

I am more interested though with the patterns generated in cellular automata, but I have to admit I have not had the opportunity of playing around with it even in such a simple PL like C++ sad.gif I am curious though encephalon, is there anyway it can be used in mathematical biology? Is it widely accepted in theoretical bio? or is it just another way of generating mathematical tapestries like the Mandelbrot set? huh.gif I have to admit after seeing patterns of pyramids and more pyramids, I could not see its implications in the physical sciences..

With cellular automata, you can replicate the growth of a tree, in all of its stages, to a very.. creepy degree, all based on CA. Not only biology, however, seems to be replicable with CA; the flow of plasma gas through a limited space, for instance, was first adequately modelled through celular automata.. enough to predict the actual behavior of it in real life. I'm guessing particle physics, in particular, will be revoloutionized through CA.. but I doubt for a few decades. While CA is extremely powerful, we're limited by our hardware in the complexity of the system we can emulate with it.

In the scientific community, it is up in the air, so to speak. Some old-school scientists completely reject it, other scientists embrace it like the religion they never had. I'd suggest reading wolfram's "a new kind of science" (I think that's the title).. it shows a lot more than just "pyramids on top of pyramids." Although, once again, I think he makes too many assumptions. It's still an interesting read.

You may also want to look into genetic algorithms, or Artificial Life (AL) in general, as they are related fields. It's a very fascinating subject, at least to those who find such things remotely interesting, and the implications of it could be quite profound in the future. Remember, though, that the field itself really isn't much older than 30 years, although von neumann was doing it with a bunch of chess sets in the 1950s. Before anything significant can come of it, if anything, there will likely be another two decades of research in people's spare time.. kinda like quantum mechanics developed, I guess. Or any other field for that matter.

Wolfram, actually, paid special attention to the mathematical properties of CA, so you might want to look into that. There aren't that many books on the subject, but those that I've read are pretty comprehensive.

[bisclavret]

I'd suggest reading wolfram's "a new kind of science" (I think that's the title)..

Do you of any links to a pdf copy of this book that some generous spirit might have posted? :blush:

[encephalon]

http://www.wolframscience.com/nksonline/toc.html

:)

It's a bit difficult to read the whole thing online, but it's there provided by wolfram himself. The actual book is quite expensive, from what I remember.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26 2006, 02:10 AM

Have you ever heard of Stephen Jay Gould's "Punctuated equilibrium" theory?
Isn't that a neo-Darwinian concept of speciation where it is assumed that isolated groups at the peripheries of a certain species, as opposed to groups with relatively large populations of the same species are more likely to bring about or to be affected by mutation? I agree with you that greener pastures await in the field of theoretical biology thus making it cool.

Erm... What you said. I'll just scratch my head in the manner of a neanderthal now.

-Alex