"Think about the two qualities that a virus, or any sort of parasitic replicator, demands of a friendly medium, the two qualities that make cellular machinery so friendly towards parasitic DNA, and that make computers so friendly towards computer viruses. These qualities are, firstly, a readiness to replicate information accurately, perhaps with some mistakes that are subsequently reproduced accurately; and, secondly, a readiness to obey instructions encoded in the information so replicated."
React to this quote
More by Richard Dawkins
See allResonant Thoughts
"“You just think about supporting a wife and children on a dollar and ninety cents a day. Most of us work on Sundays; poor people can’t afford to rest on the Sabbath in a great city like this. Sometime…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"I was attracted by the curve — the liberated, sensual curve suggested by the possibilities of new technolog…"
— Oscar Niemeyer"Computer science is an empirical discipline. Each new machine that is built is an experiment. Actually cons…"
— Allen Newell"On two occasions I have been asked, — "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will t…"
— Charles Babbage"I wanted to create an interesting scifi universe that didn’t violate the laws of physics, and that means th…"
— Neal Stephenson"Foucault Quotes of the month, at Queensland University of Technology"
— Michel Foucault"Education, journalism, technology, entertainment and business may also find better methods for their purpos…"
— Prince Philip
