[flevit]

wouldn't the interactions of "fewer" things only slow down the process not limit it?

Symantec would be a "selection" process would it not...those that mutate to avoid symantec would thrive while those that do not would be selected against

no, altering existing information is still change, that doesn't mean its NEW information.

[bobdsmith]

semantic is the word you want, Symantec is an anti-virus company. Or perhaps you meant syntax?

[ndt]

"wouldn't the interactions of "fewer" things only slow down the process not limit it?"

In the same way that we are limited by things such as physics, chemistry, and our selection of mates, a computer virus is limited by its "reality". I would not expect to see them crawling out of your computer anytime soon (Matrix fantasy land aside).

"Symantec would be a "selection" process would it not...those that mutate to avoid symantec would thrive while those that do not would be selected against "

Yes it is and yes they do.

"no, altering existing information is still change, that doesn't mean its NEW information. "

If I have a page with ATTAGC and then one T changes to ATCAGC, is that not novel? What if it becomes ATTAGCC, is that not only novel but new?

If I have a book full of letters and every second one of those letters are changed randomly, I would only get the occasional word by sheer luck. However what would happen if those random letters were subject to a test of fitness (natural selection) whereby they were graded on their conformance to the rules of English grammar and spelling. The letter "ing" were deemed more fit that say "zzt" and the ones that were less fit were slowly culled from the herd?

Like many, you are stopping at the idea of random, thats just step one. It's just the source of new stuff. It is the shaping of the crude form created by randomness through a process of removal. Mutation without natural selection is like a lump of stone without a mason. And to preempt the inevitable, the mason does not need to be sentient, just follow the rules. I'm not an artist, but even I can paint by numbers.