RE: The Watchmaker: my fav argument
March 5, 2021 at 10:02 pm
(This post was last modified: March 5, 2021 at 10:55 pm by John 6IX Breezy.)
(March 5, 2021 at 10:48 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: Give an example of irreducibility, please. It doesn't need to be addressed directly unless it can be demonstrated that it exists.
I did, namely, I argued that the medical field exists because of failures in reduction. Meaning any medical example you choose is a demonstration of a function that is irreducible via a given method (genetic disorders, infection, trauma).
Human eyes, for example, are heavily integrated within the visual system. Our eyes exist at a delicate crossroads between sensory outputs to the brain and motor inputs from the brainstem―which means a lot can go wrong. Strabismus, for example, is a disorder of the extraocular muscles. Improper functioning of these muscles lead to misalignment of the eyes, producing double vision, and impairments in depth perception. Strabismus can lead to amblyopia, in which the misalignment leads to neural signals being suppressed and vision not developing properly in that eye (Kleinstein, 1984).
Strabismus is arguably an auxiliary problem. And yet its indirect effects on vision are devastating. When a system is heavily integrated it is antagonistic to change.
Reference: Kleinstein, R. N. (1984). Vision disorders in public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 5, 369– 384.