| Before Watson and Crick elucidated the mechanism of DNA replication, von Neumann solved the problem of machine replication. |
| The blueprint is a blueprint of just the machine, but now the machine contains a photocopier. |
| Machine replication works in three steps: |
| 1. Machine P (parent) reads the blueprint and makes a copy of itself, machine C (child). |
| 2. Machine P now puts its blueprint in the photocopier, making a copy of the blueprint. |
| 3. Machine P hands the copy of the blueprint to machine C. |
| Note the blueprint is used in two ways, as active instructions and as passive data. We shall encounter this idea again. |
Return to The Paradox of Self-Replicating Machines.