This is aimed at a moderately scientific audience; you qualitatively understand physical and biological theories, and if you can code a little too, more analogies will be intuitive to you.
If you have a mathematics or computer science background, and need no introduction to Algorithms, Turing Machines or Lambda Calculus, you may want skip right ahead to Turing’s legacy in biology.
If you are unfamiliar with these topics, or just want a recap, read on.
1. Evolution
Evolution is smart.
As an ‘Intelligent designer’, it produces designs far more intelligent than human beings can design. Even something as humble as a bacterium shows an emergent complexity we don’t fully understand. But evolution operates on a level far beyond. From the level from the cell, to the organ, to the organism, to the ecosystem.
How does a mere algorithmic process, manage to generate such complex order, without a consciousness guiding it?
Let’s assume for a moment, the non-religious perspective and zoom in on the intriguing concept of an ‘algorithm’.
If you believe evolution alone is responsible for all the complexity seen in nature, you must believe that a humble algorithmic process gave arise to it all.