Saco  wrote or quoted:
> Tim Tyler  wrote in message
news:...
> > Saco  wrote or quoted:

> > > This is certainty correct, however, the silent assumption is that the
> > > trial and error search mechanism works within organism with asexual
> > > reproduction.
> > 
> > Trial and error works fine with asexual reproduction.
> > 
> > > I came across an interesting article
http://arxiv.org/abs/cs.NE/0408006, 
> > > which shows that asexual reproduction is efficient only over short 
> > > evolutionary time. In the long run, sexual reproduction is
more robust 
> > > and adaptive against environmental changes.
> > 
> > A vast abundance of asexual organisims indicates that asxual reproduction 
> > has worked well enough to persist in large numbers of organisms as far
> > as modern times.
> 
> The fact that it persisted, does not mean that asexual reproduction
> prevails.

I don't believe I claimed that.  However, I see no grounds for asserting
that trial and error search mechanisms do not work with asexual 
reproduction.

In theory, trial and error search mechanisms still work even without there 
even being any inheritance.  Indeed they are even the optimal method 
of solving some search problems.

> There are by far more species with sexual reproduction.
> According to [1]
> "Asexual species, for the most part, are relatively short-lived
> offshoots of sexual ancestors."

That's true - for the most part.

But there are still the bdelloid rotifers - which show no sign of having 
had sex for 40 million years - and seem to be doing OK despite that.

Whatever the "inefficiences" of asexual reproduction may be, they don't
seem to have hampered the numerous ancient asexual rotifers very much.
-- 
__________
 |im |yler  http://timtyler.org/  tim{at}tt1lock.org  Remove lock to reply.
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