timtyler comments on Could markets be called optimization proccesses?

timtyler 10 Jan 2011 10:25 UTC
0 points

So, this ‘fitness’ can only increase.

Note that, conventionally, fitnesses can decline—much as a hill climber can be climbing a hill on a mountain that is rapidly sinking into the sea.
- Perplexed 10 Jan 2011 16:12 UTC
  0 points
  Parent
  
  Note that, conventionally, fitnesses can decline
  
  Yes, I did notice that. That is why I wrote spelling out the assumptions:
  
  R.A. Fisher proved that (under the admittedly unrealistic assumption of an unchanging environment) the average ‘fitness’ of the organisms in a population subject to natural selection can only increase, so long as the mutation rate is moderate.
  - timtyler 10 Jan 2011 20:51 UTC
    0 points
    Parent
    
    Note that, conventionally, fitnesses can decline
    
    Yes, I did notice that.
    
    Ah! Fisher’s fictional fitnesses! My bad; I missed that context—apologies.