Comment by uwagar

4 days ago

"preconfigured" and "with instructions". i have a problem with these.

who is doing it? why the observed instructions are chosen?

6 comments

uwagar

Reply
jibal  4 days ago

One could ask the same question about any trait of any organism ... and the answer is always the same. Do you have a problem with birds being able to build nests specific to their species, or cuckoo chicks instinctively pushing the eggs of the host species out of the nest? The answer is one of the best understood facts of science, and the basis of all of biology. Why would anyone expect the human brain not to be "preconfigured" by the billions of years of environmental forces that produced it?

sirwhinesalot  4 days ago

It's not "chosen". It is evolution. Your DNA has the metaprogram that sets up all the programs in your brain. Most of them are learning programs but you also have hardcoded programs on how to perform your bodily functions, how and when to cry, and how to suck on a tit.

efilife  4 days ago

who? The evolution. The observed instructions are also chosen by evolution

  • Sapere_Aude  4 days ago

    "Chosen" by an impersonal process?

    You guys have entered the domain of philosophy a long time ago and didn't realize it, thinking it is still empirical science.

    • jibal  4 days ago

      Anthropomorphic language about evolution is simply a convenient metaphor that eases communication ... it has no metaphysical implications.

      > You guys have entered the domain of philosophy a long time ago and didn't realize it, thinking it is still empirical science.

      This ad hominem sweeping generalization about people you know nothing about is so casually expressed while being so extraordinarily arrogant. Among other fallacies packed into it is a radically false dichotomy.

      P.S. Oh dear ... -15 karma, numerous dead comments, and "philosophy" like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30359825

      Well, I won't be engaging again.