Dr James Anderson of The University of Reading has developed the “perspective simplex,” or Perspex, a way of writing a computer program as a geometrical structure, rather than as a series of instructions.

A conventional computer program is comprised of a list of instructions, and if one of them goes missing or is damaged, the whole program crashes. However, with the Perspex, the program works like a neural network and is able to bridge gaps and continue running and developing even when it sustains considerable damage. So we could have computers that are able to develop their own minds despite, or because of, the rigors of living in the world.