autonomy v. automaticity (Evolution)

by dhw, Friday, March 09, 2018, 10:15 (2233 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Please remember from the outside we cannot tell if the cells are using automatic responses or act intelligently because they have intelligence. It is either or, and I've chosen my side based on my training.

Yes, it is either/or. Others have opted for intelligence, based on their lifetime of research. You are right that we cannot tell from the outside. That makes it 50/50. Some people even think that we humans are automatons.

DAVID: Intelligence is immaterial. What we see in bacterial responses is a series of molecular reactions, all automatic and material. I've produced article after article showing this.

If intelligence is immaterial, it cannot be seen. All we can see is molecular reactions, both in bacteria and in humans. You believe in immaterial human intelligence, and in the immaterial (though lesser) intelligence of larger organisms, because their behaviour indicates that they are intelligent. You do not believe in the immaterial (though lesser) intelligence of smaller organisms, in spite of the fact that their behaviour indicates that they are intelligent. That is probably as far as we can go in this discussion, but whenever you insist that bacteria and ants are robots, I shall feel obliged to point out to you that that is a subjective opinion and not a fact.