I D the future a podcast about evolution and intelligent design.

Greetings I am your bearded host for this episode, Robert J Marks.

Today we talk about algorithms and specifically algorithms embedded in animals.

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure to do some task.

I have a recipe for my grandfather on making what he called Swankham and all recipes are examples of algorithms.

Swankham was a dessert made from old hard cold biscuits that they used during the

depression. Here's the recipe. First you break the biscuit in a bowl, you cover the

biscuit with two dollops of apple sauce and three teaspoons of sugar. You pour

in some fresh cold milk at a dash of vanilla abstract and you have the equivalent of a poor man's apple pie.

So this recipe for Swankham is an algorithm.

It follows a preset list of instructions. Algorithms are also in Google Maps. If you go to Google Maps, it gives you directions. Those directions form an algorithm. You're given a sequence of instructions like

go six miles south on I 35, takes exit 32A, turn right, etc, etc.

These directions are themselves an algorithm.

And very importantly, very significantly,

every computer program ever written follows an algorithm.

Well, here's what we're going to talk about today.

Astonishingly, animals are born knowing. Well, here's what we're going to talk about today.

Astonishingly, animals are born knowing remarkable algorithms.

What are some of these algorithms?

And more interestingly, where do they come from?

Our guest today, Eric Castle Castle has written a book entitled Animal Algorithms.

It's a fun read. I endorse the book. It's easily understood and I tell you I learned tons

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