(Over-)Realism in evolutionary computation: Commentary on “On the Mapping of Genotype to Phenotype in Evolutionary Algorithms” by Peter A. Whigham, Grant Dick, and James Maclaurin

Inspiring metaphors play an important role in the beginning of an investigation, but are less important in a mature research field as the real phenomena involved are understood. Nowadays, in evolutionary computation, biological analogies should be taken into consideration only if they deliver significant advantages.