(Attractiveness vs. Efficiency)
4 Physics and Genetics are Linked
In this simulation, the physically-based model is intimately tied to, in fact, drives, the genetic algorithm, and vice versa. Genotypes are housed in physically-based phenotypes, which in time become better at transporting their genotypes. Phenotypes which are better at transporting their genotypes to other phenotypes get to reproduce more genotypes. High reproduction of genotypes is rewarded naturally - the selfish gene at work.
The problem of reproduction is tied-in with the means for organisms to attain energy, as follows: organisms who waste energy at a high rate fall below a hunger threshold frequently. They must therefore spend more of their lives pursuing food than mating, and so they reproduce less. This creates evolutionary pressure for relatively rapid locomotion which expends relatively little energy.
In addition to selection for energy-efficient locomotion, mate preference encourages stylized motion and form. Each organism consists of a collection of body parts which move in relation to each other. Organisms can be set to respond to specific phenotypic features in other organisms, such as movement, size, length, etc. Selective pressure to flaunt these features encourages the emergence of non-locomotion-based motions and anatomy among body parts within the population. Existence of these features may not benefit locomotion in an individual, but does however increase its chances of having offspring, thereby making it more fit within the context of the population. Whether or not efficient swimming is affected by this is what provided the central inquiry behind the project.
5 The Simulation
