Talk:Genetic algorithm

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 29 October 2018 and 5 December 2018. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jtumina.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:11, 16 January 2022 (UTC)Reply

There are algorithms out there that prove exactly the contrary of what the algorithms mentioned here are supposed to show. And these do not only come from YECs. So my question is: would you allow to create a section where these algorithms are at least mentioned or maybe even discussed? I know, most of the users who created this page are deeply convinced evolutionists. This is why I ask before inserting such a section in order to prevent myself from wasting my time: are you sufficiently impartial to allow others to express their disagreement with your views? Remember that the servers of Wikipedia stand on American ground and liberty of expression is defended and granted by the US constitution... EternalAsker (talk) 18:18, 1 February 2017 (UTC)Reply

I see you are a new editor; welcome to Wikipedia. In general, content to be added to articles must be verifiable. See WP:VERIFY for an explanation. That means that content must come from summarizing reliable sources in a neutral manner. Reliable sources are described in WP:RS. In the context of this topic, RS include peer-reviewed review articles and textbooks. Neutrality is described in WP:N. Adhering closely to reliable sources without injecting our own opinions is a good start toward neutrality.

Regarding your particular question, I don't understand what you are proposing (for example, what is a YEC?). Whatever algorithms or theorems you are considering to add, probably a good start is to list here the reliable sources that discuss those topics.

Regarding liberty of expression, Wikipedia does not engage in censorship, see WP:CENSORSHIP. But with respect to the US constitution, Wikipedia is a public charity and thus has the right to determine what content is appropriate for the encyclopedia. See WP:FREE for a discussion. Good luck, --Mark viking (talk) 20:00, 1 February 2017 (UTC)Reply

YEC = Young Earth Creationist. I am not one of them and don't agree with them. However, I think it is not correct to not allow them in the discussion and exchange of ideas. You say only peer-reviewed articles are allowed. I see a problem here because also creationists from all colors publish peer-reviewed articles. However, I don't see any links to such sources, from which I conclude that they are removed... So where is the neutrality in all this? What I see is not neutrality but propaganda in favor of evolutionary concepts (from which especially natural selection) under the cover of neutrality. Not a single mention of any criticism, problems to be solved with regard to the origins of species, etc. This is not neutral if only an atheist minority has its word to say. EternalAsker (talk) 21:31, 1 February 2017 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for the clarification. This article is about the computer science concept of genetic algorithm. While the ideas behind genetic algorithms drew inspiration from the biological theory of evolution, it is just an optimization method. As a piece of mathematics, I have never seen strong claims made that the field of genetic algorithms has any relevance to biological evolution, much less spiritual matters. It sounds like you are more interested in the biological theory of evolution. The biological theory is at Evolution. The sort of criticism content you might be looking for is in articles such as Social effects of evolutionary theory, Creation–evolution controversy, and Objections to evolution. --Mark viking (talk) 23:55, 1 February 2017 (UTC)Reply

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The following is bad/false in the article and should be removed: "John Holland introduced genetic algorithms in 1960 based on the concept of Darwin’s theory of evolution, and his student David E. Goldberg further extended GA in 1989."

FALSE: John Holland introduced genetic algorithms in 1960 --- There is no paper from 1960 which supports this claim. Actually, Bremermann (see history section of this article) introduced GAs in the 1960s before JH started publishing on the subject.

UNJUST BIAS: his student David E. Goldberg further extended GA in 1989. --- This unjustly overemphasized DEG's contribution (which is not disputed as a valid contribution). As the history section of this article shows, there was a lot of GA research /before/ DEG's stellar rise. It is also unclear /what/ DEG's "extension" actually is and means.

LMSchmitt (talk • contribs) 00:39, 27 August 2020 (UTC)Reply

Good catch. I removed the disputed sentence. I think it is worth mentioning DEG in the History section, as my admittedly inexpert impression is that he did a lot to bring GAs into the applied engineering domain. If you know the GA history and have some sources to back it up, please feel free to add to the History section! --{{u|Mark viking}} {Talk} 03:10, 27 August 2020 (UTC)Reply

Why is this mentioned but not cited?