RE: Directionality in evolution without intelligent guidance
January 21, 2015 at 3:57 pm
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 4:00 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
1) The big brain is a means to an end, and it's not certain that the big brain is the only route to achieving those means or that end. So while we may say "brains have gotten bigger" we might also say "so what - weeds are still better chemist than we are, some big brain".
2)This one is a bit slippery, over what span of time, and how are we measuring complexity?
3)Another slippery one, how have you determined this, by what metrics?
There's no "tendency towards order" that I can see, there is only the tenacity of life. In any case, a selective force by any name would smell as sweet. We could call it "cultural evolution" if we liked, but if cultural evolution is equivalent to biological evlolution, it's usage turns into a wedge awfully quick. Give me some example of one, which is not the other (the examples in the wiki are troubling...would we call lactose tolerance "cultural evolution" in any other species, or would we chalk that up to adaptation to available food sources)?
End of the day though, I also see the brain as special - but I can;t really think of any way to determine that it is special, while the photosynthetic apparatus is not (or which is more or less so). If I removed one....the other would cease to be (and that relationship doesn't favor us in the least). So...meh? As you said..the notion seems so convenient and self serving...even the metrics are likely to be convenient and self serving.
2)This one is a bit slippery, over what span of time, and how are we measuring complexity?
3)Another slippery one, how have you determined this, by what metrics?
There's no "tendency towards order" that I can see, there is only the tenacity of life. In any case, a selective force by any name would smell as sweet. We could call it "cultural evolution" if we liked, but if cultural evolution is equivalent to biological evlolution, it's usage turns into a wedge awfully quick. Give me some example of one, which is not the other (the examples in the wiki are troubling...would we call lactose tolerance "cultural evolution" in any other species, or would we chalk that up to adaptation to available food sources)?
End of the day though, I also see the brain as special - but I can;t really think of any way to determine that it is special, while the photosynthetic apparatus is not (or which is more or less so). If I removed one....the other would cease to be (and that relationship doesn't favor us in the least). So...meh? As you said..the notion seems so convenient and self serving...even the metrics are likely to be convenient and self serving.
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