Re: Neoteny was Re: god makes hubey
Bill Burnett (bbur@wpo.nerc.ac.uk)
Tue, 28 Nov 1995 09:57:41
(H. M. Hubey) writes:
>Second law of thermodynamics does not say that there can be no
>local spot where entropy decreases. Similarly I never made the
>statement that not a single component of any organism is more
>complex than the corresponding one in ours. I said that "we"
>are more highly evolved, and "we" refers to the whole organism
>not to the hearing system, not to our foot, not to our stomach....
Not to our brain...
>Surely nobody has any problems with that.
No, sounds fine if you throw the brain in with all the other body parts. Of
course that knocks us off the top, doesn't it? I'm quite happy with that.
Yes, the brain is a pretty amazing thing. Yes it's unbelievable complex. But
we're talking about whole organisms now. And regardless of what you care to
think if we consider whole organisms then that little HIV virus has us well
and truly beaten. Or are you immune?
>Of course, the big stumbling block is still producing an
>explicit measure of complexity.
Well I'm glad brains have bitten the dust.
Bill
----------------------------------------------------
Bill Burnett - bbur@wpo.nerc.ac.uk
Scottish Association for Marine Science
P.O. Box 3, Oban, Argyll PA34 4AD, UK
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