An informal talk about genetic algorithms, numerical simulations and scientific discovery. March 2010, HPS, University of Leeds

1. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Philosophy of GNS
Finis
References
Numerical Simulations and Scientific Discovery
paper available at: http://papers.imuntean.net
Ioan Muntean
Department of Philosophy
and
History and Philosophy of Science
University of Leeds
March 9, 2010
1

2. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Outline
1 Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Philosophical questions
Three stances
The “glorified slide rule argument”
My position
2 Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Beyond Turing
Survival and chance in computer science
Inductive programming (skip)
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
3 Philosophy of GNS
What philosophy for GNS?
Arguments for GNS
Metaphysics of GNS
GNS and mathematics
GNS and invariance
GNS and laws of nature
Objections
4 Finis
Risky conclusions
Weaker conclusions
5 References
2

3. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
3

4. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
Standard: “the use of a computer to build a model involving
equations that we cannot solve analytically”. (P. Humphreys,
E. Winsberg)
3

5. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
Standard: “the use of a computer to build a model involving
equations that we cannot solve analytically”. (P. Humphreys,
E. Winsberg)
Non-Standard: NS track the dynamical evolution of real
systems (St. Hartmann).
3

6. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
Standard: “the use of a computer to build a model involving
equations that we cannot solve analytically”. (P. Humphreys,
E. Winsberg)
Non-Standard: NS track the dynamical evolution of real
systems (St. Hartmann).
Broad: NS is a computational model that includes the
equations of a model, assumptions, corrections,
interpretations, justifications, and representations (Humphreys
2004, 110).
3

7. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
Standard: “the use of a computer to build a model involving
equations that we cannot solve analytically”. (P. Humphreys,
E. Winsberg)
Non-Standard: NS track the dynamical evolution of real
systems (St. Hartmann).
Broad: NS is a computational model that includes the
equations of a model, assumptions, corrections,
interpretations, justifications, and representations (Humphreys
2004, 110).
History prone NS: more fine-grained, historical distinctions
are needed (E. F. Keller).
3

8. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
Standard: “the use of a computer to build a model involving
equations that we cannot solve analytically”. (P. Humphreys,
E. Winsberg)
Non-Standard: NS track the dynamical evolution of real
systems (St. Hartmann).
Broad: NS is a computational model that includes the
equations of a model, assumptions, corrections,
interpretations, justifications, and representations (Humphreys
2004, 110).
History prone NS: more fine-grained, historical distinctions
are needed (E. F. Keller).
3

9. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Definitions
Standard: “the use of a computer to build a model involving
equations that we cannot solve analytically”. (P. Humphreys,
E. Winsberg)
Non-Standard: NS track the dynamical evolution of real
systems (St. Hartmann).
Broad: NS is a computational model that includes the
equations of a model, assumptions, corrections,
interpretations, justifications, and representations (Humphreys
2004, 110).
History prone NS: more fine-grained, historical distinctions
are needed (E. F. Keller).
I take them as “working definitions”
I agree that we need to be more philosophically nuanced
3

10. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
4

11. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
4

12. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
4

13. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
Are numerical experiments mere applications or spinoffs of
scientific theories? We’ll discuss this.
4

14. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
Are numerical experiments mere applications or spinoffs of
scientific theories? We’ll discuss this.
How do NS contribute to the progress of science? Not yet,
not significantly.
4

15. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
Are numerical experiments mere applications or spinoffs of
scientific theories? We’ll discuss this.
How do NS contribute to the progress of science? Not yet,
not significantly.
Witness the philosophical importance of some scientific tools:
4

16. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
Are numerical experiments mere applications or spinoffs of
scientific theories? We’ll discuss this.
How do NS contribute to the progress of science? Not yet,
not significantly.
Witness the philosophical importance of some scientific tools:
the microscope (I. Hacking),
4

17. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
Are numerical experiments mere applications or spinoffs of
scientific theories? We’ll discuss this.
How do NS contribute to the progress of science? Not yet,
not significantly.
Witness the philosophical importance of some scientific tools:
the microscope (I. Hacking),
the thermometer (H. Chang).
4

18. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What are they? What is their status?
Are numerical simulations similar to models? M. Morrison
(2009): they have the same epistemic status)
Are NS mere experiments? E. Winsberg, W. Parker: they are
not
Are numerical experiments mere applications or spinoffs of
scientific theories? We’ll discuss this.
How do NS contribute to the progress of science? Not yet,
not significantly.
Witness the philosophical importance of some scientific tools:
the microscope (I. Hacking),
the thermometer (H. Chang).
Why not a philosophy of NS?
4

19. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Mongrels and halfway houses
E. Winsberg: NS are “mongrels”
between experiments and theories and
have features of both theories and of
experiments, without being theories or
experiments.
5

20. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Mongrels and halfway houses
E. Winsberg: NS are “mongrels”
between experiments and theories and
have features of both theories and of
experiments, without being theories or
experiments.
S. Ulam (the father of the Monte
Carlo method, late 1940s): NS are a
“halfway house” between elegant
theory and experimental hardware
(quoted in Keller 2003, 205)
5

21. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Mongrels and halfway houses
E. Winsberg: NS are “mongrels”
between experiments and theories and
have features of both theories and of
experiments, without being theories or
experiments.
S. Ulam (the father of the Monte
Carlo method, late 1940s): NS are a
“halfway house” between elegant
theory and experimental hardware
(quoted in Keller 2003, 205)
5

22. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Mongrels and halfway houses
E. Winsberg: NS are “mongrels”
between experiments and theories and
have features of both theories and of
experiments, without being theories or
experiments.
S. Ulam (the father of the Monte
Carlo method, late 1940s): NS are a
“halfway house” between elegant
theory and experimental hardware
(quoted in Keller 2003, 205)
5

23. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The enthusiasts
6

24. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The enthusiasts
It is thus reasonable to conclude that we are at the
threshold of an era of new scientific methodology. In
view of further technical developments in the near future,
computer experts suggest that we are at present only at
the very beginning of this new era. [...] computer
simulation offers a new tool for science: theoretical
model experiments of a scope and richness far exceeding
anything available before. (Rohrlich 1990, 512,516)
Galison: NS constitute a new epistemology, as a new method
of extracting information from physical measurements, as well
as a new metaphysics that presupposed discrete entities
interacting through stochastic processes (Galison 1996, 120).
6

25. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Some skeptical stances

26. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Some skeptical stances
1 “Old stew in a new pot”: NS are not special for philosophy of
science (Frigg and Reiss 2009; Stockler 2000).
7

27. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Some skeptical stances
1 “Old stew in a new pot”: NS are not special for philosophy of
science (Frigg and Reiss 2009; Stockler 2000).
2 “Wait-and-see”: We do not know what are the long-term
consequences of the NS
7

28. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Some skeptical stances
1 “Old stew in a new pot”: NS are not special for philosophy of
science (Frigg and Reiss 2009; Stockler 2000).
2 “Wait-and-see”: We do not know what are the long-term
consequences of the NS
3 “Rage against the machine”: philosophical arguments
pertaining to show that: “computers are dummy” “computers
cannot create” etc.
7

29. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Short answers to skeptics
My answer to 1: what is a novel philosophical problem? We
risk to get to “nothing new under the sun”

30. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Short answers to skeptics
My answer to 1: what is a novel philosophical problem? We
risk to get to “nothing new under the sun”
My answer to 2: philosophy of science is the history of future
science (so to speak). Wait what? The next Ice Age? NS are
here, alive and kicking.

31. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Short answers to skeptics
My answer to 1: what is a novel philosophical problem? We
risk to get to “nothing new under the sun”
My answer to 2: philosophy of science is the history of future
science (so to speak). Wait what? The next Ice Age? NS are
here, alive and kicking.

32. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Short answers to skeptics
My answer to 1: what is a novel philosophical problem? We
risk to get to “nothing new under the sun”
My answer to 2: philosophy of science is the history of future
science (so to speak). Wait what? The next Ice Age? NS are
here, alive and kicking.
I focus on 3
It’s more subtle!

33. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Short answers to skeptics
My answer to 1: what is a novel philosophical problem? We
risk to get to “nothing new under the sun”
My answer to 2: philosophy of science is the history of future
science (so to speak). Wait what? The next Ice Age? NS are
here, alive and kicking.
I focus on 3
It’s more subtle!
It has a respectable philosophical pedigree (Descartes, Leibniz,
Kant)

34. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Short answers to skeptics
My answer to 1: what is a novel philosophical problem? We
risk to get to “nothing new under the sun”
My answer to 2: philosophy of science is the history of future
science (so to speak). Wait what? The next Ice Age? NS are
here, alive and kicking.
I focus on 3
It’s more subtle!
It has a respectable philosophical pedigree (Descartes, Leibniz,
Kant)
It is mathematically and scientifically challenging (see Godel,
Turing, J.R. Lucas)

35. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 1: “Look! This is something new”?

36. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 1: “Look! This is something new”?
For instance, if, rather than spilling much ink on
convincing ourselves that simulations are unlike
everything else, we recognize that the epistemological
problems presented to us by simulations have much in
common with the ones that arise in connection with
models, we can take the insights we gain in both fields
together and try to make progress in constructing the
sought-after new epistemology. (Frigg and Reiss 2009,
611).
With this, I agree

37. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 1: “Look! This is something new”?
For instance, if, rather than spilling much ink on
convincing ourselves that simulations are unlike
everything else, we recognize that the epistemological
problems presented to us by simulations have much in
common with the ones that arise in connection with
models, we can take the insights we gain in both fields
together and try to make progress in constructing the
sought-after new epistemology. (Frigg and Reiss 2009,
611).
With this, I agree
I will try to do something similar in last section

38. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 2: The Greek Chorus attitude
10

39. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 2: The Greek Chorus attitude
Wait and see who’s winning the battle. Do not hedge your bets
too early in the game. Philosophers are like Greek chorus, they
come at the end to explain the victory.
10

40. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 3: NS as “glorified slide rules”
claim C-1
A computer algorithm is no better than the assumptions which it
was built on
The Analytical Engine has no pretensions to originate
anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to
perform. A letter of A. Lovelace quoted in (Hatree, 1949)
An argument
Computers do not think
Science is a creative process that involves reason and skills
Computers do not contribute to progress (or discovery) in science
Computers are erring in anything, like slide rules do.

41. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Stance 3: NS as “glorified slide rules”
claim C-1
A computer algorithm is no better than the assumptions which it
was built on
The Analytical Engine has no pretensions to originate
anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to
perform. A letter of A. Lovelace quoted in (Hatree, 1949)
An argument
Computers do not think
Science is a creative process that involves reason and skills
Computers do not contribute to progress (or discovery) in science
Computers are erring in anything, like slide rules do.

42. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Consequences of the glorified slide rules argument
Demoting NS again
Whenever the analytic solution is discovered, a real experiment
is possible or new data is available, NS can be tossed away.

43. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
Consequences of the glorified slide rules argument
Demoting NS again
Whenever the analytic solution is discovered, a real experiment
is possible or new data is available, NS can be tossed away.
Nothing that NS have achieved could not have been done by
an “army of well-trained scientists working with slide rules”.

44. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
13

45. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
13

46. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
13

47. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
13

48. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
NS are very brute idealizations (Parker, M. Morgan
2005-2009) etc. argue for or against some of these.
13

49. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
NS are very brute idealizations (Parker, M. Morgan
2005-2009) etc. argue for or against some of these.
NS are fundamentally flawed.
13

50. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
NS are very brute idealizations (Parker, M. Morgan
2005-2009) etc. argue for or against some of these.
NS are fundamentally flawed.
computers cannot simulate the continuum quantities of
physics,
13

51. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
NS are very brute idealizations (Parker, M. Morgan
2005-2009) etc. argue for or against some of these.
NS are fundamentally flawed.
computers cannot simulate the continuum quantities of
physics,
there are inherent errors of digitization and,
13

52. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
NS are very brute idealizations (Parker, M. Morgan
2005-2009) etc. argue for or against some of these.
NS are fundamentally flawed.
computers cannot simulate the continuum quantities of
physics,
there are inherent errors of digitization and,
computer arithmetic is fundamentally limited by G¨del’s
o
incompleteness theorem.
13

53. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
The inherently limited nature of NS
NS are subordinate in their nature because they do provide
novel scientific
knowledge only when other, more rigorous ways of
representing the real world fail:
NS are unreal because unlike experiments and models, they
do not latch directly onto reality
NS lack materiality; Materiality, maybe the most relevant, is
discussed in (Parker 2009).
NS bear no causal connection to the world;
NS are very brute idealizations (Parker, M. Morgan
2005-2009) etc. argue for or against some of these.
NS are fundamentally flawed.
computers cannot simulate the continuum quantities of
physics,
there are inherent errors of digitization and,
computer arithmetic is fundamentally limited by G¨del’s
o
incompleteness theorem.
Hence: mathematics can show us what “machines cannot in
principle do”.
13

54. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;

55. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;
NS do not explain

56. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;
NS do not explain
NS do not augment scientific knowledge.

57. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;
NS do not explain
NS do not augment scientific knowledge.
NS are limited predicting tools, at best, and only when a
pre-existing theoretical model permits it.

58. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;
NS do not explain
NS do not augment scientific knowledge.
NS are limited predicting tools, at best, and only when a
pre-existing theoretical model permits it.
Science is about explanation/understanding/unification etc.

59. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;
NS do not explain
NS do not augment scientific knowledge.
NS are limited predicting tools, at best, and only when a
pre-existing theoretical model permits it.
Science is about explanation/understanding/unification etc.

60. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
science and NS
NS are not able to falsify or confirm scientific theories;
NS do not explain
NS do not augment scientific knowledge.
NS are limited predicting tools, at best, and only when a
pre-existing theoretical model permits it.
Science is about explanation/understanding/unification etc.
No philosophy of slide rules
In philosophy of science, no country for old slide rules
14

61. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
A rejoinder to the “glorified slide rules” arguments
15

62. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
A rejoinder to the “glorified slide rules” arguments
How do we argue against the “glorified slide rules” arguments?
1 Deny C-1: computers do help us understanding and explain
because they show us how to decompose systems, separate
levels and see the organization of mechanisms. (Simon 1969)

63. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
A rejoinder to the “glorified slide rules” arguments
How do we argue against the “glorified slide rules” arguments?
1 Deny C-1: computers do help us understanding and explain
because they show us how to decompose systems, separate
levels and see the organization of mechanisms. (Simon 1969)
2 Show that historically it is inaccurate (Keller, 2003): Cellular
Automata (CA), Neural Networks (NN) and Genetic
Algorithms (GA) are counterexamples to C2. (CA illustrate
the third stage in Keller).

64. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
A rejoinder to the “glorified slide rules” arguments
How do we argue against the “glorified slide rules” arguments?
1 Deny C-1: computers do help us understanding and explain
because they show us how to decompose systems, separate
levels and see the organization of mechanisms. (Simon 1969)
2 Show that historically it is inaccurate (Keller, 2003): Cellular
Automata (CA), Neural Networks (NN) and Genetic
Algorithms (GA) are counterexamples to C2. (CA illustrate
the third stage in Keller).
3 Quantum computing may be the “best” candidate for
surpassing C-1.

65. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
A rejoinder to the “glorified slide rules” arguments
How do we argue against the “glorified slide rules” arguments?
1 Deny C-1: computers do help us understanding and explain
because they show us how to decompose systems, separate
levels and see the organization of mechanisms. (Simon 1969)
2 Show that historically it is inaccurate (Keller, 2003): Cellular
Automata (CA), Neural Networks (NN) and Genetic
Algorithms (GA) are counterexamples to C2. (CA illustrate
the third stage in Keller).
3 Quantum computing may be the “best” candidate for
surpassing C-1.
Here I combine 1 and 2, but insist on the paradigm shift ` la
a
Keller.

66. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
16

67. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
16

68. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
16

69. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
More attention to the historical developments of NS (` la
a
Keller and Galison)
16

70. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
More attention to the historical developments of NS (` la
a
Keller and Galison)
Some NS are able to:
16

71. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
More attention to the historical developments of NS (` la
a
Keller and Galison)
Some NS are able to:
build models,
16

72. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
More attention to the historical developments of NS (` la
a
Keller and Galison)
Some NS are able to:
build models,
find invariants,
16

73. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
More attention to the historical developments of NS (` la
a
Keller and Galison)
Some NS are able to:
build models,
find invariants,
discover non-trivial conserved quantities etc.
16

74. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations? What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS) Philosophical questions
Philosophy of GNS Three stances
Finis The “glorified slide rule argument”
References My position
What do i argue for?
Pace Frigg&Reiss, there is philosophical novelty in NS.
Not all NS are “dumb slide rules”; Some are more interesting
than others.
More attention to the historical developments of NS (` la
a
Keller and Galison)
Some NS are able to:
build models,
find invariants,
discover non-trivial conserved quantities etc.
The NS under scrutiny here are: Genetic Algorithms
16

75. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Outline
1 Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
What are Numerical Simulations (NS)?
Philosophical questions
Three stances
The “glorified slide rule argument”
My position
2 Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Beyond Turing
Survival and chance in computer science
Inductive programming (skip)
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
3 Philosophy of GNS
What philosophy for GNS?
Arguments for GNS
Metaphysics of GNS
GNS and mathematics
GNS and invariance
GNS and laws of nature
Objections
4 Finis
Risky conclusions
Weaker conclusions
5 References
17

76. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochasticity and NS
Biomimetics
Q-1: How can computers be made to do what needs to be done,
without being told exactly how to do it?
The “glorified slide rules” argument uses the Turing machine
paradigm.
18

77. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochasticity and NS
Biomimetics
Q-1: How can computers be made to do what needs to be done,
without being told exactly how to do it?
The “glorified slide rules” argument uses the Turing machine
paradigm.
Are all machine Turing machines?
18

78. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochasticity and NS
Biomimetics
Q-1: How can computers be made to do what needs to be done,
without being told exactly how to do it?
The “glorified slide rules” argument uses the Turing machine
paradigm.
Are all machine Turing machines?
Build machines inspired by learning, discovery, game playing,
solving real-life problems, etc.

79. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochasticity and NS
Biomimetics
Q-1: How can computers be made to do what needs to be done,
without being told exactly how to do it?
The “glorified slide rules” argument uses the Turing machine
paradigm.
Are all machine Turing machines?
Build machines inspired by learning, discovery, game playing,
solving real-life problems, etc.
Hence adopt biomimetics

80. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochasticity and NS
Biomimetics
Q-1: How can computers be made to do what needs to be done,
without being told exactly how to do it?
The “glorified slide rules” argument uses the Turing machine
paradigm.
Are all machine Turing machines?
Build machines inspired by learning, discovery, game playing,
solving real-life problems, etc.
Hence adopt biomimetics
1 Go stochastic in building algorithms!

81. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochasticity and NS
Biomimetics
Q-1: How can computers be made to do what needs to be done,
without being told exactly how to do it?
The “glorified slide rules” argument uses the Turing machine
paradigm.
Are all machine Turing machines?
Build machines inspired by learning, discovery, game playing,
solving real-life problems, etc.
Hence adopt biomimetics
1 Go stochastic in building algorithms!
2 Go Darwinian in programming computers

82. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Do philosophers talk about non-Turing machines?
CA, GA and NN can go beyond what a Turing machine is
able to do. So did the Monte Carlo method (first NS).

83. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Do philosophers talk about non-Turing machines?
CA, GA and NN can go beyond what a Turing machine is
able to do. So did the Monte Carlo method (first NS).
Are these solutions philosophically attractive?

84. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Do philosophers talk about non-Turing machines?
CA, GA and NN can go beyond what a Turing machine is
able to do. So did the Monte Carlo method (first NS).
Are these solutions philosophically attractive?
The literature on NS ignores GA

85. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Do philosophers talk about non-Turing machines?
CA, GA and NN can go beyond what a Turing machine is
able to do. So did the Monte Carlo method (first NS).
Are these solutions philosophically attractive?
The literature on NS ignores GA
There are interesting discussions on CA and NN. (Keller,
2003) (Barberousse, Franceschelli, and Imbert 2007) and,
more dogmatically, (Wolfram 2002).

86. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Do philosophers talk about non-Turing machines?
CA, GA and NN can go beyond what a Turing machine is
able to do. So did the Monte Carlo method (first NS).
Are these solutions philosophically attractive?
The literature on NS ignores GA
There are interesting discussions on CA and NN. (Keller,
2003) (Barberousse, Franceschelli, and Imbert 2007) and,
more dogmatically, (Wolfram 2002).
The literature on NN is well-known to philosophers: (Paul
and Patricia Churchland)

87. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Do philosophers talk about non-Turing machines?
CA, GA and NN can go beyond what a Turing machine is
able to do. So did the Monte Carlo method (first NS).
Are these solutions philosophically attractive?
The literature on NS ignores GA
There are interesting discussions on CA and NN. (Keller,
2003) (Barberousse, Franceschelli, and Imbert 2007) and,
more dogmatically, (Wolfram 2002).
The literature on NN is well-known to philosophers: (Paul
and Patricia Churchland)
I focus here on GA and GP

88. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
20

89. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.

90. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.
Based on genetic or evolutionary search by which a
“combination of genes is looked for, the criterion being the
survival value”.

91. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.
Based on genetic or evolutionary search by which a
“combination of genes is looked for, the criterion being the
survival value”.
Turing in Mind (1950): “the child-machine needs to be taught
and surveyed. Then another child-machine tried and
compared to the first etc.”

92. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.
Based on genetic or evolutionary search by which a
“combination of genes is looked for, the criterion being the
survival value”.
Turing in Mind (1950): “the child-machine needs to be taught
and surveyed. Then another child-machine tried and
compared to the first etc.”
the child machine = hereditary material,

93. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.
Based on genetic or evolutionary search by which a
“combination of genes is looked for, the criterion being the
survival value”.
Turing in Mind (1950): “the child-machine needs to be taught
and surveyed. Then another child-machine tried and
compared to the first etc.”
the child machine = hereditary material,
the changes within it = genetic mutation and

94. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.
Based on genetic or evolutionary search by which a
“combination of genes is looked for, the criterion being the
survival value”.
Turing in Mind (1950): “the child-machine needs to be taught
and surveyed. Then another child-machine tried and
compared to the first etc.”
the child machine = hereditary material,
the changes within it = genetic mutation and
natural selection = “judgment of the experimenter”

95. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Evolution of algorithms
Speculated by Turing in 1948.
Based on genetic or evolutionary search by which a
“combination of genes is looked for, the criterion being the
survival value”.
Turing in Mind (1950): “the child-machine needs to be taught
and surveyed. Then another child-machine tried and
compared to the first etc.”
the child machine = hereditary material,
the changes within it = genetic mutation and
natural selection = “judgment of the experimenter”
In a unpublished paper, Turing realized that such a genetic
search implied randomness (Turing 1996).

96. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
The 1970s and 1980s
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Alien (1992)
Alien Resurrection (1997)
ABBA’s “Take a chance on me”
Koza, Holland et al.: Birth of the Genetic Programming and
Genetic Algorithms: 1986 to 1995
21

97. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
22

98. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
22

99. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
22

100. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
Offspring have some (randomly chosen) features of the
predecessors.
22

101. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
Offspring have some (randomly chosen) features of the
predecessors.
The best competitor wins and constitutes the solutions of the
problem.
22

102. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
Offspring have some (randomly chosen) features of the
predecessors.
The best competitor wins and constitutes the solutions of the
problem.
GA are implementations of the biological evolution
22

103. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
Offspring have some (randomly chosen) features of the
predecessors.
The best competitor wins and constitutes the solutions of the
problem.
GA are implementations of the biological evolution
Optimization: searching for the best solution is based on some
pre-established criteria
22

104. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
Offspring have some (randomly chosen) features of the
predecessors.
The best competitor wins and constitutes the solutions of the
problem.
GA are implementations of the biological evolution
Optimization: searching for the best solution is based on some
pre-established criteria
Unlike in Turing, selection occurs at the level of population,
not at the level of individual algorithms.
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105. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
J. Holland’s genetic programming
Starts from a given number of initial programs randomly
distributed in a given space of solutions.
Based on relative results, the best competitors are chosen and
reproduced
Offspring have some (randomly chosen) features of the
predecessors.
The best competitor wins and constitutes the solutions of the
problem.
GA are implementations of the biological evolution
Optimization: searching for the best solution is based on some
pre-established criteria
Unlike in Turing, selection occurs at the level of population,
not at the level of individual algorithms.
Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems (1975)
22

106. Philosophy of Numerical Simulations?
Beyond Turing
Genetic Algorithms in Numerical Simulations (GNS)
Survival and chance in computer science
Philosophy of GNS
Inductive programming (skip)
Finis
Genetic numerical algorithms (GNS)
References
Stochastic algorithms
Output is manifestly stochastic.
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