Re:I hate LaTeX, I love LaTeX
by ohwellhere on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @10:12AM
(#31492361)
> it eliminates entities
But evolution doesn't eliminate entities. Low fitness entities are eliminated by hunger, or predators, or lower reproductive rates.
The marble on the other hand is eliminated by Michelangelo.
There's a linguistic confusion where because evolution is a noun, we think we can treat it as a subject. But in the person/place/thing/idea delineation, it is an idea.
Not only does it not design, not only does it not eliminate: "it" doesn't do anything!
Re:I hate LaTeX, I love LaTeX
by nautilius on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @04:28PM
(#31497189)
Of course 'evolution' is not an actor, it's just the overall pattern we give a name to. And the pattern we observe is that low fitness entities are eliminated. That plus variation yields adaptation.
But evolution doesn't eliminate entities. Low fitness entities are eliminated by hunger, or predators, or lower reproductive rates.
The marble on the other hand is eliminated by Michelangelo.
There's a linguistic confusion where because evolution is a noun, we think we can treat it as a subject. But in the person/place/thing/idea delineation, it is an idea.
Not only does it not design, not only does it not eliminate: "it" doesn't do anything!