Re: Getting up in the morning (was: Re: The Quest for the Purpose of Life)

From: Forrest Bishop (forrestb@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Sat Feb 02 2002 - 13:22:51 MST


----- Original Message -----
From: Simon McClenahan <peepsplat@yahoo.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2002 6:41 AM
Subject: Re: Getting up in the morning (was: Re: The Quest for the Purpose of Life)

> From: "Damien Broderick" <d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au>
> > At 09:49 AM 1/28/02 -0800, Lee wrote:
> >
> > >> LIFE creates and identifies purposes.
> >
> > >purpose requires an entity
> > >capable of /desire/ and /free will/; such an entity must be able to
> > >form goals that support its desires, and can therefore choose its
> > >own purposes.
>
> > A kidney gets built into a developing phenotype because that arrangement
> of
> > organized cells does a particular job acceptably well within a
> metabolizing
> > entity. It obviously has a *function*, then; and it would be perverse to
> > claim that it doesn't have a *purpose*.
>
> Please explain exactly what is so perverse about a kidney not having
> "purpose". A kidney has a "function" most definitely, but you fail to
> impress upon me that it has a "purpose". This whole argument is still bound
> by the definition of "purpose", and hopefully we're speaking the same
> language here. My definition implies self-intent from a sentient being.
>
>
> > That purpose was not *intended* by the evolutionary accidents and sievings
> > that built the kidney's constructional and operating code; there was no
> > outside mind *desiring* it. But each kidney serves a crucial purpose.
>
> And that purpose is to function for the outside mind's desiring, surely?

A kidney is part of the mind/brain/body in humans, therefore does not operate "outside".
Its 'goal' or purpose is to maintain its 'kidneyhood', which requires 'offering' support to the external 'kidney carrier' (the rest
of the body) in exchange for survival and kidney reproduction. From the selfish kidney's perspective the purpose of life is to
create kidneys.

Forrest

--
Forrest Bishop
Chairman, Institute of Atomic-Scale Engineering
www.iase.cc


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