Evolution of Complexity

TL;DR

This paper explores the mechanisms behind the evolution of complexity in biological and artificial systems, highlighting the need to understand different interpretations of complexification to develop accurate models.

Contribution

It clarifies the different meanings of complexification and investigates their roles in evolutionary processes, advancing theoretical understanding in Artificial Life.

Findings

Complexification involves diversification and scaling processes.

Different mechanisms underlie various interpretations of complexity growth.

Understanding these mechanisms aids in creating better synthetic models.

Abstract

The evolution of complexity has been a central theme for Biology [2] and Artificial Life research [1]. It is generally agreed that complexity has increased in our universe, giving way to life, multi-cellularity, societies, and systems of higher complexities. However, the mechanisms behind the complexification and its relation to evolution are not well understood. Moreover complexification can be used to mean different things in different contexts. For example, complexification has been interpreted as a process of diversification between evolving units [2] or as a scaling process related to the idea of transitions between different levels of complexity [7]. Understanding the difference or overlap between the mechanisms involved in both situations is mandatory to create acceptable synthetic models of the process, as is required in Artificial Life research. (...)