Yes, computer programs can do these things, and presumably we could build a machine to do them too. They are not alive. Hence evolution does not produce life itself, it only modifies its form. Life is something more than the modification of its form.
James,
I think the minimum conditions for a Darwinian process require 1) units with heritable memory, 2) noise (mutation), 3) a population of memory controlled (or memory influenced) units, 4) ecological test of units (competition, selection).
The only example I can think of that is not living is a computer programmed with the above conditions, but there may be others. Many such badly-named “genetic algorithm” programs exist.
Howard,
Howard,
Do you see any way to coordinate Darwinian processes with non-living events and systems?
James 03/20/04
Howard Pattee wrote:
Life did not suddenly “exist” but arose gradually from non-living organizations of matter. There were several billion years of pre-Darwinian types of evolution that is the subject of much study today.
-- © 2004 John J. Kineman all rights reserved