Posted on 11/27/2007 11:53:56 AM PST by Between the Lines
Sorry, but the word random has a specific meaning when applied to mutation. It means that there is no bias toward adaptive fitness.
Since actual laboratory experiments -- which can be repeated -- show that mutations explore the entire search space, there null hypotheses is confirmed. Change occurs along lines that are neutral or beneficial.
When you LOLOL, do you laugh louder than when you just LOL?
The word "random" is generally associated with the mathematics involved in studying a phenomenon, e.g. Stochastic methods in Quantum Mechanics. In mathematics, such as in "random numbers" - the property is associated with a specified distribution which is to say, there are boundaries.
A random number is a number chosen as if by chance from some specified distribution such that selection of a large set of these numbers reproduces the underlying distribution. Almost always, such numbers are also required to be independent, so that there are no correlations between successive numbers. Computer-generated random numbers are sometimes called pseudorandom numbers, while the term "random" is reserved for the output of unpredictable physical processes. When used without qualification, the word "random" usually means "random with a uniform distribution." Other distributions are of course possible. For example, the Box-Muller transformation allows pairs of uniform random numbers to be transformed to corresponding random numbers having a two-dimensional normal distribution.
It is impossible to produce an arbitrarily long string of random digits and prove it is random. Strangely, it is also very difficult for humans to produce a string of random digits, and computer programs can be written which, on average, actually predict some of the digits humans will write down based on previous ones.
It may only seem to be random, as in a string of numbers extracted from the extension of pi may appear to be random when they are in fact, highly determined.
Or to put it another way, unpredictability in physical systems does not preclude strong determinism, etc.
If you run into tortoise, you might ask him about the issues involved with infinity (no boundaries) in mathematics applied to physical systems.
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