Re: Look at structure...
"haphazard" rather ignores just how efficient evolution is at engineering good structures. Those random mutations which create small improvements become part of the gene pool, and those which don't get lost. The process is one of continual iterative improvement with ruthless whittling of functionality that doesn't help you survive long enough to have offspring - and long enough to help your offspring survive tool.
The fact is that we are nowhere near building machines which work as well as the thing you are describing as a "bodge". Good engineering is all about only building as much as you need; the information we throw away simply isn't needed most of the time. If we knew how the brain was so good at discarding the irrelevant to concentrate on the important, we might be able to build better machines.
With lots of effort we can optimize machines to perform specialized tasks far better than we can, but we are still an incredibly long way from creating anything as adaptable and smart as a human. Or even a cat.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
