# Digital Evolution
> **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution.
**Domain:** Artificial Life / Evolution
**Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node
**Maturity:** Developed
## Definition
Digital evolution is evolutionary change among heritable computational entities or, in a broader usage, descent and selection among digital technologies.
## Nexus Context
The canonical strong cases are Barricelli’s populations, Evoloops, Tierra and Avida. Blockchain forks belong to the broader lineage sense unless a genuine reproducing population and internal variation process exist.
## Evidence Boundary
Digital evolution establishes substrate-independent selection dynamics, not digital consciousness, life or personhood by itself.
## Relationships
[[wiki/Digital Darwinism|Digital Darwinism]], [[wiki/Digital Organism|Digital Organism]], [[wiki/Artificial Life|Artificial Life]], [[wiki/Evolvable AI|Evolvable AI]]
## Sources / Provenance
- Avida, Tierra, Evoloops and IAS Barricelli literature.