tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post2618245935359405561..comments2024-03-28T08:57:53.180+00:00Comments on Darwinian Conservatism by Larry Arnhart: The Biological Teleology of Ayn Rand's EthicsLarry Arnharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14619785331100785170noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post-52645946659940270292008-04-17T07:37:00.000+01:002008-04-17T07:37:00.000+01:00Teleology Is Universalhttp://www.physforum.com/ind...Teleology Is Universal<BR/><BR/>http://www.physforum.com/index.php?showtopic=14988&st=195&#entry333405<BR/><BR/>A. Again, the probable reason for life's amino acids chirality:<BR/><BR/>Darwinian evolution started at life's day one, with the genesis of the first organisms, the replicating oligomers, the pre-archaea genes. It started under yet-unknown energetic conditions, by a serendipitous occurrence, with oligomeric (RNA?) conformations, in a soup containing all their essential molecular progenitors. These conformations happened to maintain balance of energy in the direction of their polymerization to lengths precipitated out of their soup as determined by the nature and conditions of the soup.<BR/><BR/>The sugars and the nitrogen-based compounds that, together with the phosphates, are the components of genes, of life's organisms, are chiral. There probably is an energetic advantage in homochirality and chiral homogeneity for the self-replication of these biopolymers.<BR/><BR/>This serendipitous occurrence set up a matrix-field of energy with a potential extended between its source, on-Earth incoming energy, and the precipitating organisms, the genes. This was the genesis of the ongoing formation and maintenance of Earth's biosphere. <BR/><BR/>And since the biosphere had thus started it could only evolve in the directions of more favorable energy balances-packages and towards stabler energy-packages conformations. Survival was the direction. Earth's biosphere had embarked on the course of its evolution.<BR/><BR/><BR/>B. Some definitions, with "end" replacing dictionary's 'cause' or 'design' or 'purpose' <BR/><BR/>- tele-, telos end<BR/><BR/>- teleology = a doctrine explaining phenomena by final end; the fact or character attributed to nature or natural processes of being directed toward a specific end; the referral to the end of universe as an explanation of natural phenomena.<BR/><BR/>teleonomy = the quality of survival of structure or function in living organisms due to evolutionary adaptation. <BR/><BR/><BR/>C. Teleology exist in all nature's systems, both living and nonliving. It is universal.<BR/><BR/>Since the Universe (including its sub-systems, also Life) is a continuously evolving fractal system, ergo energy is the base element of everything. Cosmic evolution is evolution of energy. At the beginning of the present cosmic cycle was the energy singularity. At its end there will be a small amount of mass and an infinite dispersion of the beginning energy. In-between, the universe undergoes continuous evolution, consisting of myriad energy-to-energy and energy-to-mass-to-energy transformations. <BR/><BR/>Evolution ensues from and consists of systems' modifications ("mutations"), inherently ever more of them as more new options arise for the systems, be they non-living or living.<BR/><BR/>Life systems are temporary packages of energy. On Earth they are components of the grand, temporarily constrained, biosphere energy store. Their 'end' is to enhence and maintain their matrix, the biosphere, bio.<BR/><BR/>In life systems modifications of genome's functional capabilities can be explained by the second-stratum organism's ubiquitous culture-life-experience feedbacks to its genome, its prime/base organism. The route-modification selection of a replicating gene, when it is at its alternative-splicing-steps junctions, is biased by the feedback gained by the genome, the parent organism, from the culture-life-experience of its progeny organisms. THIS IS HOW LIFE EVOLUTION COMES ABOUT. <BR/><BR/>For non-life systems there is no mediating culture. The interaction between environments and systems are direct, in the direction towards the 'end' of the present phase of the universe. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Suggesting,<BR/><BR/>Dov Henis <BR/>http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-P81pQcU1dLBbHgtjQjxG_Q--?cq=1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post-51985205531382382202008-03-08T15:04:00.000+00:002008-03-08T15:04:00.000+00:00Interesting.Rand seemed to have some qualms about ...Interesting.<BR/><BR/>Rand seemed to have some qualms about evolution.<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2xd9zd<BR/><BR/>(I could have better summarized Rand's quote on page 467.)Neil Parillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11074901258306769278noreply@blogger.com