2008/10/19 by Keki M. Burjorjee, Keki Burjorjee, Burjorjee, Keki · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Computer Science · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary Algorithms and Applications #FOS: Computer and information sciences #I.2.8 #Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms Research #Neural and Evolutionary Computing (cs.NE) #cs.NE
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0810.3356
Preliminary version. 26 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2008/10/19 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/19 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Skepticism of the building block hypothesis (BBH) has previously been expressed on account of the weak theoretical foundations of this hypothesis and the anomalies in the empirical record of the simple genetic algorithm. In this paper we hone in on a more fundamental cause for skepticism--the extraordinary strength of some of the assumptions that undergird the BBH. Specifically, we focus on assumptions made about the distribution of fitness over the genome set, and argue that these assumptions are unacceptably strong. As most of these assumptions have been embraced by the designers of so-called "competent" genetic algorithms, our critique is relevant to an appraisal of such algorithms as well.