So how can we tell whether a particular design feature of the biological neocortex is a vital innovation introduced by biological evolution—that is, one that is instrumental to our level of intelligence—or merely an artifact that the design of the system is now dependent on but could have evolved without? We can answer that question simply by running simulated evolution with and without these particular variations to the details of the design (for example, with and without connection cross talk). We can even do so with biological evolution if we’re examining the evolution of a colony of
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