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Computers
And
The Theory of Evolution
Sean D. Pitman M.D.© July 2003
 
Computers are truly amazing machines. They are marvels of the modern age. Theyin fact make the modern age what it is. Without computers we would not have accessto the knowledge and comforts that we now take for granted. But what, exactly, makesthem so powerful?
 
The power of computers rests in their ability to process information for us. Thefaster they do this, the faster we can solve problems and arrive at solutions. Computershave improved over the years and are now so fast that problems and calculations thatused to take many years can be solved in fractions of a second. Because of their amazing success in problem solving, computers have been integrated into practicallyevery aspect of our lives. Scientists have especially turned to the computer as a tool toinvestigate the natural world. In fact, many feel like the computer can simulate natureitself, even life itself. Scientists have created computer programs that apparently showhow life grows, competes, changes, and of course, evolves. The computer itself haseven been compared to a living creature. Many feel that someday computers will arriveat a point of human-like intelligence and self-awareness. A world of intelligent silicon-based creatures will co-exist with carbon-based creatures, both growing and evolvingtogether. Some suggest that computer human hybrids will also develop.This is the stuff of science fiction of course, but many times the science fiction of thepast is the reality of today. Discovering the very language of life has been a humandream for centuries, and now it is here. Today we humans are manipulating the verylanguage that defines our own existence. The coded language of DNA has beencracked and great strides have been made in reading, understanding, and evenmanipulating what this language says and how it is then expressed in living things -even ourselves. In a similar way, humans create and then manipulate the codedlanguages of computers. The similarities between computer language and thelanguage of life are striking. If the language of living things could be fully understood, itseems reasonable that it could eventually be programmed into computer code. An
 
immortal 
computer “copy” of it could be created and given an existence in either acomputer animated world or a bio-robotic world. For example, a human might one dayexist, with all human functions, thoughts, feelings, and physical needs, in computer code and animation (much like the movie, "The Matrix"). How might this be possible?
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