This thread inspired the following observations. The bottom line is that none of Dawkins’ computer programs have any relevance to biological evolution, because of this in WEASEL1: Target:Text=’METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL’; and this in WEASEL2: WRITELN(’Type target phrase in capital letters’); READLN(TARGET); which allows the user to enter the “target” phrase. No search is required, because the solution has been provided in advance. These programs are just hideously inefficient means of printing out what could have been printed out when the program launched. The information for the solution was explicitly supplied by the programmer. Once this is recognized, further conversation about the relevance of the programs to biological evolution is no more illuminating than conjecture about the number … Continue reading Simply Not Credible