It shows that complex structures, importantly those with generative capabilities and other utilities, can evolve from a simple pattern. It's a fun toy because

It shows that complex structures, importantly those with generative capabilities and other utilities, can evolve from a simple pattern. It's a fun toy because it's implemented in pixels with arbitrary rules, but the concept is exportable to other domains. The eeriness of it I think comes from that we still don't understand a lot about the world - concepts like consciousness, the origin of the universe, origin of life - or, any mystery where we don't understand how a whole became greater than the sum of its parts - when you see a model like this, it shows visually how such unknown complexities probably originated in far simpler forms. When I see those epic Game of Life videos where there's a giant stealth bomber looking structure steaming across the screen creating sub-processes in its wake, to me it's like a blue whale moving through the ocean, or a vast alien spaceship silently yet steadily barreling through the void of space. There's an ominous intelligence that seems to emerge out of what was once simple, binary, unconscious, incapable.