From: Damien Broderick (damienb@unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Mon Jun 16 2003 - 21:49:27 MDT
Just out of annoyance at the world, I'll throw in this unsolicited comment:
>If the tape of life on Earth was replayed, humans might not evolve again.
I believe this bizarre analogy was coined by S. J. Gould. It always enrages
me (literal-minded human that I am). If the tape were replayed, how could
it *possibly* show anything except what was already there, except maybe
grainer? Tapes don't rewrite themselves, not even 1960s' computer tapes.
The analogy should surely be: `if the evolutionary "program" of life on
earth were re-run using different starting conditions, or with additional
factors introduced and other deleted, X might not evolve again.' But I
suppose most people don't grok `program' even in this simple sense, and
somehow *do* grasp what's meant, even though the analogy makes no sense at
all. Weird, the human mind. Why, if the tape were replayed, I bet we'd end
up with a mind that--
Damien Broderick
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