Evolution "Doesn't Need" Mutation - Blaise Agüera y Arcas

Life functions as embodied computation, where the emergence of complexity arises from symbiogenesis rather than simple Darwinian mutation. By modeling life as a self-replicating, Turing-complete system, the "BFF" experiment reveals that random, non-living components undergo a phase transition into complex, functional replicators. This process mirrors physical gelation, where smaller, inanimate replicators coalesce into higher-order, cooperative structures. Symbiogenesis serves as the fundamental engine of evolutionary novelty, allowing systems to build increasingly parallel and intelligent computational architectures. This framework reconciles the distinction between physical matter and functional logic, suggesting that intelligence and life are inextricably linked through the continuous, hierarchical fusion of replicators. Evolution is not a closed-ended process but an open-ended, self-complexifying computational phenomenon that drives the emergence of mind, culture, and increasingly sophisticated biological forms.