Re: Art as adaptation (WAS: Robin's Arts Post)

John Clark (jonkc@worldnet.att.net)
Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:06:50 -0400

Eliezer S. Yudkowsky <sentience@pobox.com> Wrote:

>On the other hand, I know of at least one case where the flow of
>causality is reversed - flowers may be used to woo the fair, but flowers
>are (started out as being?) beautiful because they indicate healthy
>foraging grounds. So it's by no means certain.

It does back another iteration, flowers evolved to woo bugs. If we knew nothing else we could deduct that insects must have a sense of smell and color. Poetic mode on:
Do they have a primitive sense of beauty too? It's odd that two such different types of creatures find the same object so appealing. Poetic mode off.

John K Clark jonkc@att.net