Innovation and Speciation (Evolution)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Tuesday, May 03, 2011, 19:52 (4736 days ago) @ dhw

DHW,-The only flaw I see in this whole grand picture, and the part that makes me doubt, is that no where in the animal kingdom(that I am aware of) have we seen an example of invention. Adaptation to a stimulus, sure, we see it all the time. Innovation, as in refining a pre-existing mechanism to be more efficient, is also in evidence. However, invention, the act of spontaneously generating something new from abstract ideas, is not something that we have ever witnessed.-Contact, even communication between similar species does not account for invention either, as almost every known species communicates in one shape, form, or fashion. (Which, by the way, seems to be as something that should now officially go on the list as something that defines a living being - communication.) Using the article referencing bees, while I will gladly concede a hive intelligence, I have never seen a bee hive that show any meaningful changes to its design that would show signs of creativity.-
All of this is to simply to define the limitations of intelligence as opposed to self-aware consciousness-
Tony