← Back to context

Comment by ClumsyPilot

2 months ago

> Many many layers of that. It’s not a profound mechanism

Bad argument. Cavemen understood stone, but they could not build the aqueducts. Medieval people understood iron, water and fire but they could not make a steam engine

Finally we understand protons, electrons, and neutrons and the forces that government them but it does not mean we understand everything they could mossibly make

"Cavemen understood stone"

How far removed are you from a caveman is the better question. There would be quite some arrogance coming out of you to suggest the several million years gap is anything but an instant in the grand timeline. As in, you understood stone just yesterday ...

The monkey that found the stone is the monkey that built the cathedral. It's only a delusion the second monkey creates to separate it from the first monkey (a feeling of superiority, with the only tangible asset being "a certain amount of notable time passed since point A and point B").

"Finally we understand protons, electrons, and neutrons and the forces that government them but it does not mean we understand everything they could mossibly make"

You and I agree. That those simple things can truly create infinite possibilities. That's all I was saying, we cannot fathom it (either because infinity is hard to fathom, or that it's origins are humble - just a few core elements, or both, or something else).

Anyway, this can discussion can head into any direction.