for a human to look to natural selection as inspiration on the art of design, is like a sophisticated modern bacterium trying to imitate the first awkward replicator's biochemistry ...
Indeed evolution is a weak, slow, dumb process, but the key point is that it has operated over a staggering time frame and thus is has in fact created an extraordinary number of design brilliancies, many of which exceed their technological counterparts. Quick examples are low power flight and the human brain. Although it's important to note that evolution operates using simple repetition of trial and error routines, moving away from failure and not towards success, I'd hardly discard the insights from that process in favor of non-evolutionarily derived activities.
for a human to look to natural selection as inspiration on the art of design, is like a sophisticated modern bacterium trying to imitate the first awkward replicator's biochemistry ...
Indeed evolution is a weak, slow, dumb process, but the key point is that it has operated over a staggering time frame and thus is has in fact created an extraordinary number of design brilliancies, many of which exceed their technological counterparts. Quick examples are low power flight and the human brain. Although it's important to note that evolution operates using simple repetition of trial and error routines, moving away from failure and not towards success, I'd hardly discard the insights from that process in favor of non-evolutionarily derived activities.