The Engine of Complexity: Evolution as Computation

Table of Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 12
Introduction......Page 18
How is Earth different?......Page 27
What is information?......Page 33
What is an evolutionary system?......Page 39
What constitutes scientific understanding?......Page 43
How does computer science fit in?......Page 48
How is purposeful complexity explained by science?......Page 51
What is a computation?......Page 56
What does it mean to manipulate information?......Page 62
How is information defined and measured in computer science?......Page 66
Can great complexity be created by short (ie, simple) programs?......Page 68
Can physical structure be computed?......Page 75
Why have long programs?......Page 83
If physical processes compute, what and where are the programs?......Page 85
How do we explain a grain of salt?......Page 89
How does a solar system form?......Page 92
How do nonequilibrium structures form?......Page 95
Most structures have permanent parts?......Page 98
Is behavior a form of structure?......Page 100
Can avalanches be simulated on a computer?......Page 103
Whence struture for free?......Page 105
What can you get by using instructions that you can't get for free?......Page 108
Can you get a watch without a watchmaker?......Page 114
How do instructions encoded in DNA specify structures more complicated than single proteins?......Page 122
Can instructions dictate activity?......Page 126
What about ongoing activity?......Page 127
So, exactly how do we define purposeful structure?......Page 132
How do order and disorder relate to each other?......Page 136
How do we reconcile great improbability with existence?......Page 139
Where do instructions come from?......Page 142
How do instructions change our view of object probability?......Page 147
Is life the outcome of a computation?......Page 154
Can computers learn?......Page 162
What are evolutionary algorithms?......Page 167
Can the rules evolve?......Page 178
How can we visualize what is happening during an evolutionary computation?......Page 181
Is randomness necessary for learning?......Page 184
How does the human body form from a single cell?......Page 187
How is the brain wired?......Page 193
Why isn't the body destroyed by microorganisms?......Page 198
What does copying add to selection?......Page 206
Can the engine of complexity accept any form of information?......Page 209
Can variation be controlled?......Page 212
Must selection be natural?......Page 217
Is there any aspect of the cycle that cannot be controlled?......Page 221
What constitutes a complex system?......Page 224
How is an electronic device also a network?......Page 226
What is a biochemical network?......Page 229
What is a genetic network, and what does it do?......Page 233
What is a proteome?......Page 238
What is life?......Page 239
What is a complex adaptive system?......Page 245
How are we to understand the human mind?......Page 247
Where is the information?......Page 248
How are decisions made?......Page 251
Could our world, and therefore our thoughts, be deterministic?......Page 253
What are some general principles of brain function?......Page 256
What is evolutionary epistemology?......Page 258
What are some current theories?......Page 261
How do we invent?......Page 266
What is the evidence that the engine of complexity plays a major role in brain function?......Page 267
What can we say about the origin of human creativity?......Page 272
What is human culture?......Page 273
How do cultures change?......Page 274
How does science work?......Page 278
Economies change, but do they evolve?......Page 282
Do religions evolve?......Page 287
How does the engine of comlexity operate in human society?......Page 289
Can complexity be defined?......Page 292
How is complexity defined by biologists?......Page 299
How do optimization and coevolution fit in?......Page 309
Do resources matter?......Page 313
How does depth figure in?......Page 316
Is there evidence?......Page 318
How do engines of complexity get started?......Page 322
What does it mean to be in the middle of a computation?......Page 340
Where is it all going?......Page 342
Are we about to participate in a new implementation of the engine of complexity?......Page 353
Acknowledgments......Page 356
Notes......Page 358
Glossary......Page 374
References......Page 392
Index......Page 398