Comments on: The Darwin Escape https://russian.lifeboat.com/blog/2011/07/the-darwin-escape Safeguarding Humanity Mon, 05 Jun 2017 03:30:54 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 By: Randal A. Koene https://russian.lifeboat.com/blog/2011/07/the-darwin-escape#comment-88436 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:19:40 +0000 http://lifeboat.com/blog/?p=1989#comment-88436 Michael, thanks, I was not familiar with Powers’ theory by that name. But it is a pretty reasonable and frequently encountered argument for what I would term “local purpose” (or bounded purpose). Universal purpose is another matter.

]]> By: Michael Strong https://russian.lifeboat.com/blog/2011/07/the-darwin-escape#comment-88418 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:10:40 +0000 http://lifeboat.com/blog/?p=1989#comment-88418 Are you familiar with William T. Powers’ Perceptual Control Theory? Powers has a comprehensive engineering-based theory of biological purpose with which he interprets not only the behavior of complex mammals, but also the origin of life itself. Here is his intriguing essay on the origins of life,

http://www.livingcontrolsystems.com/intro_papers/evolution_purpose.pdf

]]> By: Rick Moss https://russian.lifeboat.com/blog/2011/07/the-darwin-escape#comment-88367 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:21:59 +0000 http://lifeboat.com/blog/?p=1989#comment-88367 Clearly, notions of a “delicate optimized state” should be dismissed, I agree. Humans are marvelously adaptable — both physically and psychologically — to situations completely foreign to the natural environments in which we evolved. It’s as preposterous to assume we couldn’t accustom ourselves to brain enhancements as to assume packing our minds with learning would somehow cross-wire with our baser instincts and set off some sort of spontaneous combustion.

As an aside, no truer words have been uttered than “evolution is not an actual optimizer,” demonstrated by the fact that as I age, hair disappears from the crown of my head while springing alarmingly from my nostrils. Not all adaptations have been rational.

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