Re: From AAT to Wittgenstein? Skip it!

H. M. Hubey (hubey@pegasus.montclair.edu)
31 Oct 1995 01:11:20 -0500

ghanenbu@inter.nl.net (Gerrit Hanenburg) writes:

>You mean the Drake Equation?

>[N = R* x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L]

Thank you for the long post but it wasn't really necessary.

>Talking about uncertain variables!

We were discussing whether life will evolve like ours and
if so what it will mean.

On whichever planet life evolves sooner or later intelligent
creatures will reach a state of knowledge in which they can
tinker with evolution (and naturally their own evolution).

Despite whatever might have happened in the past, and whatever
torturous path which might have led up to that point, no
one can deny that probably the most important event in the
whole history of natural evolution happens at that point.

Can you guarantee that in a few short centuries humans will
not be creating new species?

>But in evolution they are.A species can evolve a pair of wings only to lose
>them later,it can evolve eyes and lose 'em when they are no longer
>needed.It can evolve a big brain and.......;-)

Yes, and ....

Maybe we'll blow ourselves up, and then... life will start anew.
Maybe most of the mammals and maybe even others will die. The
fish will mutate, and then the life cycle will restart. Maybe
a few hundred million years from now, humans (which may look
like us but be descended from the new version of the fishes :-))
will be digging up yet another life cycle of fossils.

Hmmm, I wonder if the record of such a thing can be found.

>But then again,who cares.

I'll be dead by then, that's for sure :-)..

-- 





				Regards, Mark

				http://www.smns.montclair.edu/~hubey