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samkaplan's picture

Two Points

One:

People seem to have problems with the idea that all human life, or indeed all life in general, is governed by rules that are to some extent determinable. Isn't it possible that, just as a specific cellular automata may seem random when we observe only one of its vertical strings, we are similarly observing humanity from a limited perspective? Can we perhaps not see the "entire cellular automata," so to speak?

Two:

While it is clear that we need to move beyond cellular automata for a complete understanding of the universe, I can see at least one possible way that they can be combined with randomness to produce a viable model of evolution. Imagine strings of DNA as cellular automata that produce the complex behavior in human beings and other life forms. Now, in between generations, these strings of DNA encounter genetic randomness--reproduction--which transforms them in some way. Thus, it is possible for cellular automata to be salvaged somewhat as a model for the emergence of multi-cellular organisms, consciousness, etc.

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