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No Evolutions for Corporations or Nanodevices — LessWrong

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In evolutionary biology, as in many other fields, it is important to think quantitatively rather than qualitatively. Does a beneficial mutation "sometimes spread, but not always"? Well, a psychic power would be a beneficial mutation, so you'd expect it to spread, right? Yet this is qualitative reasoning, not quantitative—if X is true, then Y is true; if psychic powers are beneficial, they may spread. In Evolutions Are Stupid, I described the equations for a beneficial mutation's probability of fixation, roughly twice the fitness advantage (6% for a 3% advantage). Only this kind of numerical thinking is likely to make us realize that mutations which are only rarely useful are extremely unlikely to spread, and that it is practically impossible for complex adaptations to arise without constant use. If psychic powers really existed, we should expect to see everyone using them all the time—not just because they would be so amazingly useful, but because otherwise they couldn't have evolved i

x No Evolutions for Corporations or Nanodevices — LessWrong The Simple Math of Evolution Evolution Personal Blog 123 No Evolutions for Corporations or Nanodevices by Eliezer Yudkowsky 17th Nov 2007 7 min read 32 123 "The laws of physics and the rules of math don't cease to apply. That leads me to believe that evolution doesn't stop. That further leads me to believe that nature —bloody in tooth and claw, as some have termed it —will simply be taken to the next level... "[Getting rid of Darwinian evolution is] like trying to get rid of gravitation. So long as there are limited resources and mult

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