Re: [asa] Random and natural vs. intelligence

Yeh, but I really like this instrumental parallel.

In contrast, it seems to me that the Cage genre of music is more about
organization.

The instrument metaphor is noteably NOT like the single event-branch of
a single entity, as is often discussed in evolutionary arguments.
Instead, it is much more like a representative context for evolution in
which there are typically huge populations of kindred entities with
hoards of potential "opportunities" at any given instant.

The starting point of white sound embodies a lot of tonal possibilities,
but the context into which the white sound is projected imposes a
"natural selection" process which winnows, reinforces and sustains
certain of the frequencies in accordance with the basic resonance(s) of
the instrument, as well as its particular key and armature configuration
at the moment.

This maps pretty will into the starting materials and conditions, and
natural selection processes that cooperate in evolutionary schema. The
metaphor even carries over into a form of propagation and heritance. If
a luthier finds a particular instrument to have a particularly
satisfying sound, you can be certain that he will do his best to
identify and propagate the differentiating property of that instrument
into future generations!

To warp a familiar phrase, "That'll teach!"

Or so it seemeth to me.

JimA [Friend of ASA]

George L. Murphygmurphy@raex.com wrote:

> You might check out some of the compositions of John Cage. For her
> senior recital my younger daughter, a percussion student at Oberlin,
> played one of his pieces that required rolling dice to see where on
> the drum & for how long various parts were to be played. I read one
> of the essays of his that she suggested to me that discussed such
> matters & it made some sense, though I can't recall details - or the
> title of the essay - now.
>
> Shalom,
>
> George
>
> > > There are all sorts of books about the physics > of music. I do
> not think that the notion of randomness is ever used in such > books.
> All instruments are designed to produce an appropriate, pleasant
> sound. Players > who used randomness when using any such instruments
> would invariably lead to > bad music. > > > > > > Moorad > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > From: > asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu
> [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Iain Strachan > Sent:
> Tuesday, November 06, 2007 > 5:07 AM > To: Randy Isaac > Cc:
> asa@calvin.edu > Subject: Re: [asa] Random and > natural vs
> intelligence > > > > > > > > > > On 11/6/07, Randy > Isaac >
> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > "Theistic Darwinists
> maintain that God was > "intimately involved" in creation, to use
> Francis Collins's words. > But they also think life developed via
> genuinely random mutations and genuinely > natural selection. Yet they
> never explain what God is doing in this process. > Perhaps there is
> still room for him to start the whole thing off, but this > abandons
> theism for deism." > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > This is
> essentially the same argument that Lee Strobel used > on the radio a
> few weeks ago when he firmly but respectfully rebuked Francis >
> Collins. Evolution is inherently random and without guidance and is
> therefore > mutually exclusive with divine guidance, he said. > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > When one draws a bow across a violin
> string or blows across the mouthpiece of a > flute, one is applying a
> genuinely random (white noise) signal, from which the > instrument
> naturally selects the resonant frequency and produces a beautiful >
> response. Thus musicians use random processes to produce music, and
> yet > are intimately involved in it. > > Iain > > > > > > >
>
>
> George L. Murphy
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Received on Tue Nov 6 13:30:32 2007