Biological Evolution and the NFL Theorems

William Dembski (2002) claimed that the NFL-theorems from optimization theory render Darwinian biological evolution impossible. Häggström (2006) argued that the NFL-theorems are not relevant for biological evolution, since the assumptions of the NFL-theorems are not met. Although I agree with Häggström (2006), in this article I argue that the NFL-theorems should be interpreted as dealing with an extreme case in a much broader context. This broader context is in fact relevant for scientific research of evolutionary processes; not in the sense that the models can be used to draw any conclusion about the real biological evolution (and certainly not about any design inference), but in the sense that it allows us to interpret computer simulations of evolutionary processes. As a result of this discussion, I will argue that we learn very little, if anything at all, about biological evolution from simulations. This position is in stark contrast with certain claims in the literature that I will discuss.