Different in degree or kind: An essay captures Adler (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, November 21, 2015, 12:59 (3079 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Shapiro says that the bacteria's genome is a 'read/write code' mechanism. How do you interpret that?-SHAPIRO: “Living cells and organisms are cognitive (sentient) entities that act and interact purposefully to ensure survival, growth and proliferation. They possess corresponding sensory, communication, information-processing, and decision-making capabilities.”-McClintock (enthusiastically endorsed by Shapiro): A goal for the future would be to determine the extent of knowledge the cell has of itself and how it utilizes this knowledge in a “thoughtful” manner when challenged... In the future, attention undoubtedly will be centered on the genome, with greater appreciation of its significance as a highly sensitive organ of the cell that monitors genomic activities and corrects common errors, senses unusual and unexpected events, and responds to them, often by restructuring the genome.”[7]. (My bold)-SHAPIRO: (on being asked why the idea of the intelligent cell is controversial): “Large organisms chauvinism.”-DAVID: What you present is all correct. It is the interpretation that is wrong. A computer does read/write automatically. So can the cell and does. This is why the ID folks adopted Shapiro, much to his discomfort.-Whose interpretation is wrong? If you are claiming that MY interpretation of his computer image is wrong, the above quotes prove that it is YOU who are wrong. Ah, wait! "So can the cell and does." Those are YOUR words, not Shapiro's. You are trying to tell me that it's Shapiro's interpretation of his own words that is wrong. There I was, thinking you thought you'd found something in Shapiro that contradicted his explicit statements about cellular intelligence, but all the time it was just you disagreeing with him yet again! So why on earth did you ask for my interpretation of his computer image in the first place?