Hierarchical Evolution Proposed

Science Daily gave good press to a Dutch grad student who proposed the “next step in evolution” – robots that pass on knowledge and experience without Darwinian natural selection.  Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis, according to the article, developed a complete and “consistent” system called an “operator hierarchy” that goes far beyond biological evolution; it even “includes the classification of inorganic natural matter.”
    Science Daily explained, “The next life form will not necessarily develop by means of biological evolution: as far as Jagers is concerned, a machine that shows intelligent behaviour based on a neural network fulfils the definition of life.”  When robots can share their knowledge, a “new step in evolution” will have been achieved.  “However,” Jagers admitted, “for the time being such robots still need humans to build them.”

Can anyone explain why this is not a cult like Scientology?  No wonder one of our readers renamed the news site Seance Daily.