The Trapped Scientist - when he opens the door a picture from the
Galapagos will appear
| Every time the above link
is clicked the scientist tries to open the door by breaking the combination of its
lock. Because the scientist is trapped in a submarine off the shore of the Galapagos
Islands when he opens the door he will be able to see out a porthole ( hence the cool
pictures). The door's combination is analogous to useful information or molecular knowledge in biology. The scientist in this demo models how information evolves by chance and how it is preserved by natural selection (see chapters 1 and 2 for a complete explanation). Every time the button is clicked the door has a 1 in 8 chance of opening. |
Chance (genetic drift) in
this demonstration can always find the door's combination. Since the combination is short,
this is not surprising. Any user who clicks the button more than 30 times will see a
picture. Once the picture appears natural selection will take over ( the try
again link will disappear). Thus, the evolution of information ( the door's combination)
is successful. So anyone who claims that information cannot evolve is wrong. The
scientist in this example can always find the information to open the door and see the
picture from the Galapagos. He finds this information, the door's combination, by chance. |