Re: Minimization principal for evolution


"Don" <Don.Steiger@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:dst7u4$hs0$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I should have been more explicit in my original question. By a
minimization principal I mean in the sense of calculus; i.e. given a
function f the local minima occur when the derivative of the function
is zero.

And, if you want to be more technical, you can talk about Lyapunov
functions of a dynamical system.

The specific minimization principal that I was thinking about
is potential energy minimization. This is physically very fundamental,
and applies to all physical processes. You can think of the potential
energy function, of a physical system, as a hyperdimensional surface
composed of hills (unstable states), valleys (stable states), and
mountain passes that connect the valleys. Evolution, to me, is a
process that moves a physical system from one valley (stable state) to
another valley by finding the mountain passes. Is this a perspective
that has been taken by anybody?

Yes, most notably by Sewell Wright, though just about everybody has
been influenced by his thinking. However, there is a difference in
conventions between thinking about evolution and thermodynamics.
Wright saw things upside down from the way you do. Instead of a
ball rolling into a valley to minimize free energy, he thought of
a more active agent climbing a hill. Same basic idea, but it means
that biologists think in terms of maximizing something whereas
thermodynamicists think of minimizing.

Google for "fitness landscape", either on the web or within this
group.


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