2 Mechanics of Evolution

Events of sufficiently small probability,
 when they actually occur,
 are indistinguishable from miracles

That Which Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger

Computer systems mirror the structures and mechanisms of people. Not too surprising an assessment, but it does provide justification for suggesting that just as with people who are physiologically inclined to form and maintain complex social organizations, the evolutionary progression of computers has embraced the concepts of trust and policy within widespread collections of devices. Indeed, these collections form social organizations in their own right. Within human social structures, policy environments, including the means of policy implementation, arose as a collection of mechanisms through which humans were better able to coordinate their activities and to establish shared patterns of behavior for their collective benefit. Thus, we observe that social policy is a natural result of the human evolutionary process. Consequently, we might anticipate that the evolution of computer systems, and more to the point, the mechanisms that are enabled by those systems, will mimic the behaviors found in the human species. We would then further suggest that the personal electronic device, currently the most intimately personal variant of computer, represents an emergent species within the larger domain of computer systems; a species that offers the prospect of bubbling to the top of the evolutionary froth, just as did its organic forbearers.

Few would question modern mankind as the current pinnacle of the biological evolutionary process. However, a suggestion that a new, currently minimalist variant of computer might be associated with some future apex of computer evolution is perhaps less obvious. Certainly, we would expect more general agreement that current incarnations of basic personal electronic devices are still far from reaching their full potential. Consequently, suggesting that they portend the emergence of a paradigm that could significantly impact the state of computer technology as an extension of personal social interaction and personality characteristics requires a bit more justification. An interesting question is, of course, is it plausible that achieving their full potential will entail significant extension through the evolutionary process? Further, can we anticipate the direction of this evolution based on comparisons to the processes that resulted in current social orders? These are among the questions we seek to explore, if not answer.

As a guide to consideration of these rather tenuous concerns, it is instructive to look at the foundations, first of organic life and then of computer systems, in order to better consider their similarities, as well, perhaps, as some of their differences. While of course we recognize the