The Design Argument Revisited through Evolutionary Computation: Imperfection, Robustness, and Creative Emergence.
This article offers a fresh perspective on the argument from design by drawing on modern evolutionary computation, which we propose as a more fruitful analogy for divine design than traditional craftsmanship models. We focus on genetic algorithms, which mimic biological evolution through operators t...
| Publicado en: | Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 221 - 240 |
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| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Open Library of Humanities
Mar2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=192794303&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 192794303 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 05912385 ZYG jtl: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science issn: 05912385 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 61 iid: 1 pid: 15576 pub: Open Library of Humanities artinfo: ui: 192794303 10.16995/zygon.24840 ppf: 221 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 709KB tig: atl: The Design Argument Revisited through Evolutionary Computation: Imperfection, Robustness, and Creative Emergence. aug: au: Lumbreras, Sara Oviedo, Lluís Jeavons, Peter affil: Professor, IIT, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, Spain Full Professor of Theology, Antonianum University, Rome, Italy Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK su: Evolutionary computation Genetic algorithms Heterogeneity Adaptability (Personality) Imperfection Phylogeny sug: subj: Evolutionary computation Genetic algorithms Heterogeneity Adaptability (Personality) Imperfection Phylogeny ab: This article offers a fresh perspective on the argument from design by drawing on modern evolutionary computation, which we propose as a more fruitful analogy for divine design than traditional craftsmanship models. We focus on genetic algorithms, which mimic biological evolution through operators that emulate combination, selection, and mutation, and bring new insights from practical experience with such algorithms. Far from being easy to implement, genetic algorithms require carefully designed codifications, operators, and parameters. Very importantly, in genetic algorithms, suboptimality emerges not as a flaw but as an essential trait: exploring imperfect solutions allows uncovering better, creative designs. In addition, imperfection is also linked to robustness: evolutionary outcomes are near optimal and flexible rather than finely tuned and fragile. Because genetic algorithms evolve a population of designs, diversity is both a requisite and a result. Building on the analogy between divine design and evolutionary computation, we argue that a divine designer would appear to value growth, adaptability, robustness, diversity, and creativity above static perfection. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science is the property of Open Library of Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science holder: Open Library of Humanities dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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