Holland's and Kauffman's work, together with Dawkins' simulations of evolution and Varela's models of autopoietic systems, provide essential inspiration for the new discipline of artificial life, This approach, initiated by Chris Langton (1989, 1992), tries to develop technological systems (computer programs and autonomous robots) that exhibit lifelike properties, such as reproduction, sexuality, swarming, and co-evolution.

Particular individuals do not recur, but their building blocks do.

The measure of performance of any given agent is the amount of money it accumulates through its actions.

When a new building block is discovered, the result is usually a range of innovations.

If there is to be a competition, there must be some basis for resolving it. It is also clear that the competition should be experienced based.

This use of building blocks to generate internal models is a pervasive feature of complex adaptive systems.

If we are to understand the interactions of a large number of agents, we must first be able to describe the capabilities of individual agents.