I recently happened across this "Evolving Genesis" app that attempts to randomly select the right letters to form the first line of the book of Genesis. Unfortunately, it confuses abiogenesis, the formation of the first amino acids, with evolution, and it gets evolution completely wrong.
The author writes, "after watching this I hope you will appreciate the astronomical odds against our being here, our being alive right now." It's true that the odds against randomly selecting all of the correct letters are high. But evolution is not random, and there's the problem with his simulation.
Those who understand the theory repeat this over and over, but it just doesn't seem to stick: evolution does not occur simply from random mutation, but from random mutation driven by natural selection. Mutations can be positive or negative; negative mutations are excluded by natural selection and positive mutations are preferred. Natural selection thus becomes a powerful force to propel evolution in complex ways.
I've created an alternate app that incorporates natural selection to illustrate how evolution really works. Click "Start Evolution" below to see how quickly the process goes when you combine random mutation with natural selection. Correct letters are preserved and incorrect letters allowed to mutate again. A little bit of luck goes a long way here; it usually evolves Genesis's first line in about 50 generations, but I've seen it work in as few as 26. Post a comment with how how many generations it takes you.
You'll need Internet Explorer and the Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 to view the simulation.
This simulation would be more accurate if it allowed different strings to combine sexually. I'll leave that to someone else to code. In fact, computer scientists are already working on programs that harness evolutionary theory. Called "genetic programming," it pits randomly selected algorithms against each other and repeatedly selects the best traits of each. The technique has already evolved new, complex antennas and circuits that rival human-generated designs, which is not surprising when you consider it employs a technique — evolution — that is written in the fabric of the universe.