Deep insight from simple models of evolution.

On one hand, people admire the often strikingly efficient results of organic evolution. On the other hand, however, they decry mutation and selection to be a rather prodigal, inefficient trial-and-error strategy. Taking into account the parallel information processing in a heterogeneous population and sexual propagation with recombination, as well as the genetic control of the reproduction accuracy, computer simulated evolution reveals a couple of interesting, sometimes surprising, properties of nature's learning-by-doing algorithm. Survival of the fittest, Spencer's résumé of Darwin's view, turns out to be a bad advice if taken literally. Individual death, forgetting, and even regression show up to be necessary ingredients of the life game. Whether the process should be named gradualistic or punctualistic, is a matter of the observer's point of view.