Re: [asa] Two questions...Ayala's article

Hi Preston,

I *think* the answer is that a shorted track on a circuit board is a poor analogy to an error in DNA.

The better analogy would be;

An error in DNA = error in the coding of the machine making the circuit board

An error on the circuit board (eg. shorted track) = an error in brain "micro structure"

In other words; having a bad track on a PCB is a "minor" flaw (as would be loosing a connection between two neurons in the brain) whereas an error in the production process would be "major" (as would a DNA flaw leading to disfunction in entire areas of the brain).

Or, at least, so it seems to me.

Blessings,
Murray

Preston Garrison wrote:
>> The neocortical hardware for the intellect, not the soul, although I
>> think they go hand in hand, and one is needed for the other.
>>
>> The cortex of the human brain is advanced, however it's obviously not
>> just size or gyrificationŠthe dolphin and elephant show that.
>>
>> Man has the ability to speak, and this ability is incredibly powerful
>> (and equally dangerous). However I believe that there is evidence that
>> even this ability is not necessarily evolutionarily advanced - one
>> mutation in one gene turns speech off.
>
> What? One wire dropped across 2 points on a circuit board can destroy
> the function of a supercomputer - that doesn't mean it isn't a
> supercomputer.
>
> Am I missing something?
>
> Preston G.
>
>
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Received on Wed Feb 25 19:03:56 2009