Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution's Speed

Re:Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution's Speed by pif on Friday November 30, 2018 @05:32AM (#18568107)

I think he's talking about animal and plants that prosper in a region they could reach only due to human intervention (think: trans-oceanic or trans-continental travel).

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Re:Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution's Speed by faceplanted on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:12AM (#18568253)

No, what he's saying is that evolution doesn't always produce optimal species for the environment, if a species is so invasive as to out compete the native species, then clearly _it_ is more optimal than the one that literally evolved there. Meaning Evolution doesn't find optimal solutions unless it has the right starting configurations.

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Re:Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution's Speed by coldtea on Friday November 30, 2018 @10:48AM (#18569895)

Evolution never finds "optimal solutions" (except by happenstance). It just has to reach some solution that works and allows the organism to survive and reproduce. Optimal-ity is not a factor.

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Re:Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution's Speed by empath75 on Friday November 30, 2018 @09:19AM (#18569243)

Optimal for _what_? It makes no sense in the context of biological evolution.

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Re:Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution's Speed by Drdrdrq on Friday November 30, 2018 @01:55PM (#18571550)

Optimal for survival in the given environment. However the worth of solution depends on other solutions (organisms)... Interesting way of looking at the problem.

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