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Next: 21.4 Mutate wiring. Up: 21.3 Special rule mutation. Previous: 21.3.2 Assign a random

21.3.3 Mutate by bitflip.

If ``1'' or ``0'' is entered at #21.3 above, at each mutation, successive bits in the rule table will be flipped, from left to right. The difference is that for ``1`` (cumulative) the bits flipped previously will remain, whereas for ``0'' (single) the previous bits will be restored to their former state. The ``single'' bitflip results in a set of rules 1 Hamming distance from the start rule, the cumulative bitflip results in a steady increase in the hamming distance. For a rule mix, the mutation will apply to each rule.

The start and end position of the bitflips can be altered from the default at the extreme ends of the rule table. The following prompt is presented:

specify start - end position of bitflip (countdown)

start position (default 31): end position (default 0) (this example for k=5)

Enter the new start position, followed by the new end position. Once the end position is reached, the next mutation will revert to the start.