Cellular Automata and Fractal Evolution

The Paradox of Self-Replicating Machines

Here is the perceived problem with machine self-reproduction.
*   The machine must contain a blueprint of itself, a set of instructions on how to copy itself.
*   But if the copy is to be able to reproduce itself, the copy will need its own set of instructions.
*   That is, the original machine needs to make a copy of the itself, complete with blueprint.
*   This means the blueprint must contain a copy of the blueprint, which must in turn contain a copy of the blueprint, and so on. We seem to encounter an infinte regress.
Why isn't this a good objection?

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