evolutionarylike
Evolutionarylike is a term used in some disciplines to describe processes or outcomes that resemble biological evolution without being actual evolution of living organisms. It is a heuristic descriptor rather than a formal scientific category, and its precise meaning depends on context. In evolutionarylike systems, sets of variants arise, they are subject to selection pressures, and those that perform better in a given environment are more likely to persist or propagate. Crucially, the inheritance mechanism may be non-genetic, and variation can be introduced by mutation, recombination, learning, or design alteration.
In computer science and artificial life, evolutionarylike processes are foundational to genetic algorithms, genetic programming, and
Differences from true evolution include the substrate of inheritance, which may be symbolic, digital, or social