Engineering and evolvability
Engineering and evolvability
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DOI：
10.1007/s10539-014-9425-3
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发表时间：
2014-05-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Calcott, Brett
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Calcott, Brett
将工程学与进化进行比较通常涉及适应主义思维，其中设计良好的人工制品被比作适应良好的生物体，进化过程被比作设计过程。当生物学家关注进化论而不是适应论时，会有一个完全不同的比较。这里的想法是，复杂的集成系统，无论是进化的还是工程的，都有共同的普遍原则，这些原则会影响它们随时间变化的方式。这种从适应论到进化论的转变是一个重大的转变，因为正如我所认为的，我们可以在不提出任何适应论主张的情况下理解这些普遍原则。此外，进化性突出了工程学的重要方面，这些方面在适应主义者的辩论中被忽视了。我介绍了一些新的工程实例，结合这些关键的被忽视的方面，并使用这些例子来挑战一些常见的工程和进化之间的对比，并强调一些新的不平衡，已经被忽视。
Comparing engineering to evolution typically involves adaptationist thinking, where well-designed artifacts are likened to well-adapted organisms, and the process of evolution is likened to the process of design. A quite different comparison is made when biologists focus on evolvability instead of adaptationism. Here, the idea is that complex integrated systems, whether evolved or engineered, share universal principles that affect the way they change over time. This shift from adaptationism to evolvability is a significant move for, as I argue, we can make sense of these universal principles without making any adaptationism claims. Furthermore, evolvability highlights important aspects of engineering that are ignored in the adaptationist debates. I introduce some novel engineering examples that incorporate these key neglected aspects, and use these examples to challenge some commonly cited contrasts between engineering and evolution, and to highlight some novel resemblances that have gone unnoticed.