Jesse Mazer wrote: > Brent Meeker wrote: > > >> >>1Z wrote: >> >>>Brent Meeker wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>>1Z wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>>Brent Meeker wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>You misunderstand "population models". It's not a question of what >> >>members of a species think or >> >>>>>>vote for; it's a matter of whether their logic will lead to their >> >>survival in the evolutionary >> >>>>>>biological sense. So the majority can be wrong. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>Cooper is making valid comments about *something*, but it isn't logic. >>>>>Logic is what tells us the majority can be wrong >>>> >>>>Cooper is not talking about logic in the formal sense; he's talking >> >>about reasoning, making >> >>>>decisions, acting. This can be "wrong" in the sense that there is a >> >>better (in terms of survival) >> >>>>way of reasoning. >>> >>> >>>If you want to judge what is better in terms of survival, >>>you need to use logic. >> >>No, you just need to see who survives. Experiment trumps theory. >> >>Brent Meeker > > > Presumably Cooper used theory to show why certain types of reasoning are > more likely to aid survival, no? Anyway, we still need assumptions about > logic and math to make sense of statements about basic experimental > observations like "the individuals with trait X survived more frequently > than those who lacked it." > > Jesse
I don't understand "assumptions about logic and math"? We don't need to make assumptions about them because they are rules we made up to keep us from reaching self-contradictions when making long complex inferences. They are rules about propositions and inferences. The propositions may be about an observation like "a species that used this kind of reasoning survived more frequently than those who used that kind." I might need logic to make further inferences, but I don't need assumptions about logic to understand it. Brent Meeker Brent Meeker --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
