Originally posted by shunyadragon
View Post
So I suggested part of the reason is ego. People do not wish to see themselves as "accidental" (a term deliberately chosen for its teleological implications). We humans must be here for a REASON, even if we have to make up an imaginary entity to have such a reason. A purpose-haver, to give life and everything purpose. And therefore, an "accident" is something that did not go according to plan. An accident is a mistake.
But evolution properly understood implies that there is no "final cause", no purpose or direction. Roy understood - with tens of thousands of dimensions to work with, and with the selection of dimensions from one generation to the next being largly chance, evolution's direction can't be predicted. Run the movie over from the start, and not one single organism will recur (though the mechanical requirements of life will surely lead to similar modes of locomotion, etc.) No matter how many times you re-run it, no exact duplication will ever take place.
Leave a comment: