On 3/15/2015 10:49 AM, John Clark wrote:
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 Telmo Menezes <te...@telmomenezes.com
<mailto:te...@telmomenezes.com>> wrote:
> Organisms apply pressure on surfaces, even if they are dead. This is just
a property of chunks of
solid matter. Evolution did not create this behaviour
I disagree. Evolution didn't select for that behavior but it did cause it, without
Evolution no cadaver would exist and so there would be no pressure at that spot.
> The question is simple: why can't organisms generated by evolutionary
processes
possess properties that are not the result of evolutionary pressure?
All the properties that an animal has are the result of evolutionary pressure although
sometimes it's indirect, the property may not confer a reproductive advantage and it
might even be invisible to Evolution but Evolution could still produce it if it's the
product of some other property that does have an evolutionary advantage. Not every
aspect of a building is the result of a decision by an architect, some features are just
the byproduct of other decisions; if he wants to put a arch in a rectangular enclosure
he's going to get a spandrel whether he wants it or not. It's the same with evolutionary
spandrels, if intelligence confers an Evolutionary advantage it will be selected for and
its byproduct, consciousness, will come along for the ride even if it has no
Evolutionary advantage whatsoever.
But as your example shows, the spandrel may necessarily accompany some architectural
decision, e.g. to have a dome, but not others. It's not necessary to a building.
Similarly, consciousness may be an necessary spandrel of brain architecture, but NOT of
intelligence in general.
Brent
> Because your argument hinges on assuming that this is not possible.
On the contrary, my argument hinges on the fact that this IS possible
John K Clark
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