“Intelligence,” OUT OF NOTHINGNESS!

[bennyboy]

It is random, because that sieve is not static. It involves too many unpredictable variables: weather, for example, or giant rocks falling from the sky, or the whims of powerful individuals. None of these things are predictable, and they all serve to destabilize environmental pressures.

Suppose I role a pair of dice 1000 times. The result of each roll is random, but the sum of the outcomes is non-random because of standard deviation. In the end, I will roll seven about 167 times, and snake eyes about 28 times. In fact, that exact outcome has the most potential. The set of all possible outcomes contains more variations on that outcome than any other outcome.

That's right. But now, suppose that every roll of the dice caused changes to their geometry-- or even to the number of dice you were rolling. Can you still say that there's anything predictable about the outcome over even a few rolls? No-- you'll end up with a Butterfly Effect in all cases-- you may be able to trace a line BACKWARD through each outcome, but you will never be able to predict future states.