Sublime

Years ago, it had occurred to me that Darwin and Nietzsche agreed on one thing: the defining characteristic of the organism is striving. Describing life otherwise was like painting a tiger

“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they are finished.”

Dass freilich nicht jedes Merkmal seine Erklärung in einem Überlebenszweck finden muss, verdeutlichte der amerikanische Biologe und Philosoph Steven Jay Gould

Individual organisms are best thought of as adaptation-executers rather than as fitness-maximizers. —John Tooby and Leda Cosmides, “The Psychological Foundations of Culture”

University of Indiana anatomy professor Paul Pietsch was skeptical when he heard Lashley’s and Pribram’s claims. Pietsch referred to himself as a “materialist,” saying

In the first, lowest level we find Darwinian creatures, with their competences pre-designed and fixed, created by the R&D of evolution by natural selection. They are born “knowing” all they will ever “know”; they are gifted but not learners.

Over the last few decades biologists have reached the firm conclusion that the man pressing the buttons and drinking the tea is also an algorithm.

so war doch von Anbeginn dieser Ehrgeiz in die neue Wissenschaft eingeschrieben: Auch das Leben zu entlarven als ein »Nichts als«.