autonomy v. automaticity (Evolution)

by dhw, Tuesday, March 20, 2018, 12:18 (2438 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Your question requires research into the particular econiche in which the weaver plays a role. Such research has answered the question like this, as I have shared before.

dhw: So what is your theory about other birds? Did they autonomously work out how to build their inferior, egg-endangering nests, or did your God give them instructions too? I can’t remember why the weaverbird’s econiche was of special significance in the evolution of the human brain, so perhaps you can remind me?

DAVID: All econiches are important to the balance of nature, the importance of which you like to downplay.

So did non-weavers autonomously work out how to build their inferior, egg-endangering nests, or did your God give them instructions? The balance of nature has constantly changed, in accordance with which organisms and econiches have survived and which have disappeared. How does the ever changing balance of nature support the hypothesis that the weaverbird’s nest was specially designed to enable life to continue until God could fulfil his one and only purpose of producing the human brain? David, it doesn’t make sense.

NB: The historically changing balance of nature has nothing to do with trying to stop some humans from wrecking the environment to such a degree that other species and large numbers of their fellow humans become endangered. You have frequently and quite rightly drawn our attention to these ecological issues, but one should not conflate the two uses of “balance of nature”.