“Stuart Kauffmann and John Holland, both complexity theorists affiliated with the multidisciplinary Santa Fe Institute, have shown that the evolutionary approach is not just another way of solving complex problems. Given the likely shape of these ever-shifting landscapes, the evolutionary mix of small steps and occasional wild gambles is the best possible way to search for solutions” writes Tim Harford in his book ‘Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure‘.
What I find extremely interesting in this statement is the affirmation that the evolutionary approach is the best way to deal with complex systems (in terms of survival), however this requires to be able to take some wild gambles from time to time, probably to adapt to the sudden changes that can occur in the environment.
The thing is that evolution as a process is dramatically wasteful: a few survive but many don’t as nature proceeds with ongoing experiments. If it is indeed the best way to deal with complex systems it means that there is going to be a lot of waste, also known as failures.
This is actually the theme of the book, but leaves us with the need to manage a large number of experiments without if possible, dying as a result. We thus need to develop a particular manner of evolution which remains survivable.
Still, in our complex world, we could learn more from evolutionary theory than we generally think.
