We evolve in steps…
At the tender age of two, my mother gave me a pencil and paper. With gentle guidance, she placed the pencil in my tiny fingers, ensuring I held it correctly, and began teaching me to write. As she moved my hand, leaving a black mark on the paper, she uttered the words “ka puri ka,” and the outcome was क.
She persistently drew the same symbol, uttering the same words each time. Later, she told me to try drawing it on my own, but I found it difficult. So, she divided the symbol into four smaller parts and showed me how to draw each one separately. Then, she explained how to put them together to form क. After many tries, I finally learned to write क. Hurray!
As a child, I was always restless and full of energy. When I turned eight, I made the spontaneous decision to take a bath independently. However, in my hurried attempt, I turned on the water while still fully clothed. “Whoa!” exclaimed my mother with a mix of amusement, laughter, and shock in her voice. Instantly, I realized that I neglected not just to undress but also to shut the door. This reminds me that even showering requires an algorithm, following a sequence of steps for smooth operation.
As I grew older, my curiosity about how I came into this world persisted. Being an inquisitive child, I sought answers from my parents and others, but the explanations I received were veiled in supernatural stories. Perhaps I was still a child.
As I grew from an innocent kid into a senior school student, I uncovered secrets of human anatomy and their feats of reproduction. To add to my awe, I learned of Charles Darwin’s idea of how nature shapes life. Then I realized why my mother called me “talai badar” whenever I did something creative, like scribbling on the wall.
I recall two fascinating ideas from his theory: descent with modification and natural selection. The first suggests that all living things share a common ancestor, and over time, they undergo changes, giving rise to new species.
Furthermore, natural selection discusses that organisms with traits that are better suited to their environment have a higher chance of surviving and reproducing and they pass on these advantageous traits to their offspring. It’s not a matter of chance; rather, it’s about the survival of the fittest.
Imagine a population of rabbits living in a grassy field. Some rabbits have fur that blends in better with the green grass, while others have fur that is more visible. When a predator, like a fox, comes hunting, the rabbits with camouflage have a higher chance of escaping and surviving to reproduce. Their offspring are more likely to inherit the genes for camouflage, leading to a gradual increase in the proportion of camouflaged rabbits within the population over generations. This illustration of natural selection made me realize how mother nature provides a magical procedure for the challenge of survival. Isn’t it just amazing?
Moreover, as I reflect on these hidden algorithms at play, it takes me back to my childhood. During those years, I frequently battled with colds and fevers. However, my father always discouraged the use of antibiotics, favoring herbal remedies instead. The turning point occurred at the age of 15 when my father severely scolded me for taking antibiotics during a bout of fever. However, my father’s insistence on herbal remedies planted the seed of curiosity in my young mind. I began to wonder about the biological algorithms that govern our health and fight against disease.
Surprisingly, I discovered the survival game within us. Antibiotics work to destroy the bacteria that inhabit our bodies. However, bacteria look for ways to survive when antibiotics are used frequently. Bacteria attempt mutation in order to become resistant to the medications and increase their chances of surviving. These resistant bacteria multiply and spread. In cases of intricate medical conditions necessitating antibiotic use, their effectiveness diminishes as bacteria develop resistance, making the cure of illnesses more challenging.
As I matured into adulthood during high school, I found myself in a situation where I developed feelings for a girl who happened to share the same Gotra as mine. To navigate this, I approached my father with a somewhat indirect inquiry. I framed it as a scenario involving a friend who liked a girl with shared Gotras. I questioned whether, according to our beliefs, he could proceed and potentially marry her in the future.
My father tried to suppress a laugh, but I noticed it clearly. Babu! This long-held tradition regarding marriages within the same gotra aims to prevent harmful recessive genes from spreading, promoting genetic diversity and ensuring the health and prosperity of future generations. Then, he provided several examples of negative mutations observed in offspring due to marriages within the same gotra. Today, I don’t remember the name of the girl my friend liked in high school.
As I observed various cultural practices, like starting the day with a morning bath, opting for natural foods, and showing respect to animals as dictated by our traditions, I initially found them a bit challenging and, in some cases, not entirely relevant to our modern way of life. Yet, as I took the time to understand these rituals, I discovered that these practices were algorithms intelligently crafted by our ancestors to make our life much more peaceful and convenient. It reminds me that traditions, though seemingly archaic at times, often hold profound wisdom, serving as algorithms that guide us towards a more harmonious and prosperous future.
After finishing high school, I joined a bachelor’s degree program in computer engineering. During my studies, I came across a search algorithm, a genetic algorithm that presented an optimal solution among many solutions. This approach imitates the natural evolutionary process.
In the genetic algorithm (GA) process, we begin with a diverse population, each individual representing a potential problem-solving solution encoded as a chromosome. Through a fitness function, individuals undergo evaluation based
on how effectively they address the problem, determining their success in the metaphorical survival game of the GA.
In the selection phase, it’s a bit like nature’s way of picking the best candidates — favoring the high performers for reproduction. Then there’s the crossover step, where we’re kind of mimicking the swapping of good genetic traits between well-adapted individuals to create potentially even better offspring. Furthermore, in genetic algorithms, there’s a mutation step. During this step, a handful of genes in an individual get randomly tweaked to encourage diversity within the population. In a nutshell, genetic algorithms work by going through rounds of selection, crossover, and mutation to produce top-notch solutions.
When I looked further, I found that the digital representation of nature extends beyond the realm of genetic algorithms. Do you recall the time when I was learning to write the character क? At the age of two, the neurons in my brain were already processing information, recognizing patterns, making decisions, and communicating with one another. I had a knack for it even then. But, I felt a sense of awe and wonder when I realized the working mechanism of artificial neural networks mirrored the very processes that shaped my early neural development.
Now, I’ve come to appreciate the beauty hidden within the complex algorithms that run my everyday life. I’m excited about embracing the harmony among nature, tradition and digital world to live a life around principles of wisdom, sustainability, and overall well-being. I won’t be able to overlook the role of algorithms in connecting me to a deeper understanding of myself, my place in the world and vast potential that lies ahead in the future.
