From: Jonathan B. Marder (jonathan.marder@newmail.net)
Date: Thu May 22 2003 - 07:41:32 BST
Hi Rich, Bob, Steve, Platt and all,
First of all, Rich asked if anyone had explored the ideas of "chance" in an
essay.
Have a look at my 1998 essay "The End of Causality"
http://www.moq.org/forum/marder/jonathanmarder1.html
As a modest person, I am uncomfortable citing my own essay, but I think it
is absolutely relevant to the discussion. The essay deals with randomness,
purpose and evolution
Bob, if you will excuse my immodesty, I think this is a MUST for you to
read.
Secondly, I think Bob missed my point about species being "created".
Species in the Linnaean sense didn't exist until Carl Linnaeus. This is
exactly the same argument that Pirsig used in ZAMM with respect to gravity
and Isaac Newton.
All the decisions of what constitutes a species and where to draw the lines
are decisions made by man. It is a useful tool and keeps biologists in a
job, but it can also lead to platypi.
Jonathan
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