BHA: Re: <fwd> S.J. Gould on new genome findings

["Tobin Nellhaus" <nellhaus@xxxxxxx>]

Mervyn wrote:

> Catweasle prophesied.

[snip]

> One command, one joy, one desire,
> One curse, one weight, one measure,
> One King, one God, one Law.'
>
> This is the religion of reductionism.

And I can't help but wonder how the prophet wandered onto the Bhaskar list.
Gould -- who has for decades defended the theory of evolution and criticized
those who try to apply it to society and culture (Social and Cultural
Darwinism, respectively), who is troubled by corporate biotechnology's
efforts to own the elements of life (a goal which is not necessary for
alleviating human suffering, and impedes research in problems that aren't
profitable), and who I think sees organisms as more like ecosystems (with
all the relational and historical dynamics that entails) than like
machines -- Gould clearly has at least a few more points in common with
critical realism than a "life long and enthusiastic reductionist" could.

Of course, as I'm a life long and enthusiastic anti-reductionist, I couldn't
help but find the new findings on the human genome to be thrilling, and I
share Gould's excitement (though his surely runs far deeper).  I think the
demonstration that we are not so far from the lowest living creatures is a
nice bonus, too.

---
Tobin Nellhaus
nellhaus@xxxxxxxx
"Faith requires us to be materialists without flinching": C.S. Peirce




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