Natural selection

As explained in Grokking AI Algorithms, Second Edition

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals according to how well their traits fit their environment.

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals according to how well their traits fit their environment. Variation appears constantly; variants that fit better tend to survive, reproduce, and pass on useful traits. section 4.1

The process can be understood as a repeating pattern:

• A population contains variation, such as differences in color. section 4.1
• Environmental conditions make some traits more useful than others. section 4.1
• Better-fitting individuals survive longer, reproduce more, and spread their traits through successors. section 4.1

Peppered moths

Light-colored peppered moths once blended into light surfaces, while darker moths were uncommon. Pollution darkened surfaces during the Industrial Revolution, making darker moths harder for predators to see. Darker moths therefore survived and reproduced more, increasing the spread of their genetic information. section 4.1

Figure 4.2 The evolution of the peppered moth

A visual sequence showing how environmental change shifts the advantage between light and dark moth variants. section 4.1

How Grokking AI Algorithms, Second Edition covers it

How deep it goes

Explains variation, environmental fit, survival, reproduction, and inheritance through a moth example, but stops short of formal population genetics.

Examples

Uses peppered moth camouflage and visual depictions of evolution, reproduction, and mutation.

What you can do after

Apply the mechanism as intuition for evolutionary algorithms that search large solution spaces through successive generations.

How it connects

Connects natural selection with evolution, variation, reproduction, mutation, inheritance, adaptation, and evolutionary algorithms.

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Also explained in

• 

  liveBookmanning.com
  Advanced Algorithms and Data StructuresNatural selection is a process in which individuals with traits associated with greater survival or reproduction are more likely to contribute to subsequent generations.
• 

  liveBookmanning.com
  Evolutionary Deep Learning: Genetic algorithms and neural networksNatural selection is the biological process by which heritable traits better suited to an environment lead to greater survival or reproduction.

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Related concepts

• genetic algorithmused by · A genetic algorithm is an evolutionary optimization method that improves a population of candidate solutions through fitness-based selection and variation, often including recombination and mutation.
• evolutionproduces · Evolution is the cumulative change in the characteristics, structure, or behavior of a population or system across successive generations or states.
• fitnessmeasures · Fitness is a numerical score indicating how well a candidate solution performs relative to an optimization objective.
• evolutionary computationused by · Evolutionary computation is a family of search and optimization methods that iteratively improve candidate solutions through variation and selection inspired by biological evolution.
• intelligenceproduces · Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, reason, learn, solve problems, and adapt to changing situations.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Grokking AI Algorithms, Second Edition. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.