Evolution, complexity, entropy and artificial reality

Abstract The process of Darwinian evolution by natural selection was inoculated into four artificial worlds (virtual computers). These systems were used for a comparative study of the rates, degrees and patterns of evolutionary optimizations, showing that many features of the evolutionary process are sensitive to the structure of the underlying genetic language. Some specific examples of the evolution of increasingly complex structures are described. In addition a measure of entropy (diversity) of the evolving ecological community over time was used to study the relationship between evolution and entropy.