Thompson designed an electric circuit to perform
a tone-discrimination task â it listens to a sound, and can tell you which of two expected tones it has heard.
Thompson then
The critical part: the evolved circuit was selected not as a simulation, but by
making a physical version and - experimentally - measuring how well it performed.
This line in the abstract is far too modest:
a greater respect for the natural properties of the implementation medium than is usual â because what happens is - excuse my French - BATSHIT INSANE.
Jumping to
The evolved circuit is a mess.
So, of that tangle: