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There is a very fine line between definitions certain words for
certain uses. In this case, the definitions of choice and
definitions of response to describe the behavior of an organism to some
stimuli. The word "choice" is a tricky one! For example, if you "have no
choice but to drive in the snowstorm", do you still choose? In the case of a
single celled organism, that concept of choice is clearly silly and you
don't mean it that way. You and I both know you don't. But... we have such
complicated uses and views of the word "choice" that it's a word fraught with
booby traps in science. Some words are more likely to be red flags than others.
All I can tell you is that I have learned to recognize some of them from my
experiences travelling with my father and from his stories of various attacks
that have been made on his theoretical ideas about organisms (like Anticipatory
Systems).
It does have an element of "volition" in it, and it's hard to find
other words to describe these differences between a simple chemical reaction in
a fireplace and a similar chemicqal reaction in the metabolic
processes of a cell. Function is the only word that can really delineate the
boundary, because function is built into organisms and then life is one of the
things that emerges. My father wanted to understand what that means,
scientifically, as well as why it (function) was being treated as a dirty word
by scientists and science in general.
My father makes a statement in Essays on Life, Itself very near to
the bit I transcribed in my earlier post:
"There is at root only one reason to do either science or mathematics,
and that is to understand what is going on."
I think that was exactly how HE felt about science and
mathematics-- that they were tools to help humanity answer questions. But I
think he was wrong in saying it's the only reason to do science or mathematics.
The thing he missed is exactly the thing that caused so much of his professional
trouble, namely; Some people do science or mathematics for OTHER REASONS. They
aren't interested in answering deep questions... because they can make a cushie
living answering lots of little questions with it. Or maybe they
aren't interested in using science and mathematics as a tool in
the WAY my father did. Maybe they wanted to use science as a tool to make money.
Maybe they wanted to use it as a means to prestige. OR.... Maybe they didn't
want to USE it at all-- instead they made a religion out of it and treated
it as a holy thing in and of itself. Maybe an infinite variety of other reasons
and combinations of reasons..... Human beings interact via many different
routes, one of which is the interaction between our consciousness-es. Is it
any wonder things can get a bit... complicated???
Judith
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