An inventive mechanism (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, October 07, 2014, 18:05 (3698 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: One expression stands between us: “innovation instructions”. The question is whether the genome-architect itself designs the new house, or your God drew up all the plans 3.7 billion years ago and the genome automatically switches onto that particular programme. You cannot get round this alternative.-Of course I can. Either you are not thinking it through or I'm not explaining it well enough. There is the third way I am trying to put across. Sticking with the architecture analogy: imagine a suspension bridge to be built across a river in a deep valley. The structural engineer must account for the weight of the bridge, the weight of the traffic count in figuring the size and number of support cables. But considering what happened in Tacoma, Washington years ago, nature's challenges must be considered. Don't forget wind velocity in a valley. They did in Tacoma. In a wild unexpected storm the bridge swayed and collapsed. New bridges took that into account. I view the genome the same way. It knows from the past what works, and with a new challenge, looks for guidelines for a way to answer it. The genome must contain similar guidelines from the past to create a truly modified new species, not exact instructions, because that might not cover new unexpected environmental issues (Chicxulub), but suggestive solutions. If a program can write a program (and they can) the genome should be able to take cellular information and propose solutions. This is where natural selection steps in the arbitrate.
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> dhw: Let me repeat: If your architect is the genome, you are acknowledging the autonomy of the inventive mechanism. If the genome is merely implementing plans drawn up by an architect 3.7 billion years ago, you are back in the uneasy position you started with.-In my view, not fully autonomous, but limited by guidelines. Still those gidelines I am proposing seem quite liberal and inventive, considering all the weird living forms we find in the bush of life.