Miscellany (General)

by David Turell , Monday, July 05, 2021, 17:18 (1028 days ago) @ dhw

Big brain evolution

DAVID: All of us are fully aware as in schizophrenia, neurons are sick and misinterpret consciousness thought. You cannot escape dualism.

dhw: How can non-conscious cells misinterpret anything?

Your question does not fit my example. Neurons receive consciousness. So they receive a signal and if sick, garble it. Pure dualism

Neutron star black hole merge

DAVID: One of your problems is you want explanations God's actions, and they are all judgement calls based on one's analysis of God's personality.

dhw: No they are not. I want explanations of the history of life, and if God exists, I want coherence between that history and what might have been his intentions.

The moment you make an attempt to assume God's intentions, you are assuming a God's possible personality, and yours is always humanized.

Ant raft movements

DAVID: 'Swarm intelligence' is the author's name for the result. The cause remains a result of individual specific actions.

dhw: The cause remains a result? The authors believe that the combined intelligences of the individuals have produced the bridge-building strategy. You quote them, and then you want to focus on the fact that an individual ant could not have thought up the strategy!

In bird flocks, bacterial colonies, or in ants the limited individual actions produce the swarm. We interpret it as a swarm as our concept. Again as in cell functions, we are on the outside making an observation/judgement. You have yours, I have mine.

Bacterial motors

QUOTE: Can any partial implementation of a motility system be even slightly advantageous to a bacterium? Examples of a partial system might lack sensors, lack decision logic, lack control messages, lack a rotor or stator, lack sealed bearings, lack a rod, lack a propeller, or lack redirection means. Would such partial systems be preserved long enough for additional cooperating components to evolve?

dhw: Why wouldn’t they have survived? Initially, the only competition when they were evolving was their fellow bacteria.

The point is not your reply. How does evolution add useless parts until the proper form of a useful motor is present?