If you happen to have evolved a cognitive architecture that permits storing information about the state of the world in the same format as information about how to build new members of the species, transferring that information would grant an evolutionary advantage over not. The only “just so” assumption is in such a cognitive architecture having developed, but they’re allowed that assumption given that the Super Happies already exist.
“It really does make a lot of sense, evolutionarily. If you’re injecting packets of information anyway—”
On rereading, it’s a little annoying to see quite so many evolutionary just-so stories. LW has made me sensitive to hindsight bias.
If you happen to have evolved a cognitive architecture that permits storing information about the state of the world in the same format as information about how to build new members of the species, transferring that information would grant an evolutionary advantage over not. The only “just so” assumption is in such a cognitive architecture having developed, but they’re allowed that assumption given that the Super Happies already exist.