The Blind Watchmaker (clip)

ha ha you got me there, but I dont think I have seen anything intelligent but not conscious. I don't believe computers are intelligent, at least not more than a number of stones or whatever objects you can use to count, because that's what computer are basically used for, arent they.

I didn't say it was conscious.

@DWest, cool, so we should start giving computer rights equal to humans'. hey, my toilet is made by intelligent plumber, although its task is not so nobel, but maybe you could consider that it is also intelligent? I'm sure it will be happy to hear that.

@iwantcoolname
Yes, it does. Because they're the product of intelligent mathematical and engineering manipulation created to perform intelligent tasks. Therefor, the computer is intelligent, because it was created to do things that require intelligence, be it preprogrammed scripts or not, it's still operating on an intelligent level because it is not random and it is not chaotic and it is subject to limitations inherit in mathematical and engineering properties.

What until recently was the textbooks' top example for natural selection, the giraffe, actually is an argument for intelligent design. Darwin erred in thinking that giraffes became tall because they had to compete for tree leaves in times of drought (at that time they eat bushes and grass), and there is no fossil evidence for the giraffe's evolving to its great height. This and other such problems are discussed in The End of Darwinism by Eugene G. Windchy.

So god designed the large intestine of a dog on a computer? (joke)

Cumulative means step-by-step. So instead of going through all possible variations of a solution, you pick out the ones which are better than the previous ones. This rules out invalid solutions faster than the trial & error method. Surprisingly, this method isnt new to software developers. They instictively follow this path - more or less. Probably because its some kind of hidden law of physics :)

Funny, you brought my attention back to this video, and now it makes perfect sense to me, ... perhaps it has something to do with morning coffee and the like!?

evolutionary algorithms are basically just clever search. when you don't know what option is the best, you make some alterations to your best guess and select the best alteration, then repeat. that's what evolution does to species too.