[Wittrs] Is Homeostasis the Answer? (Re: Variations in the Idea of Consciousness)
- From: "BruceD" <blroadies@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:14:50 -0000
--- In Wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "iro3isdx" <xznwrjnk-evca@...> wrote:
> I see a mechanism as a system that follows rules by application of
> brute causal force. If I throw a brick into the mechanism, either
the
> brick will be smashed to small parts, or the mechanism will jam up
and
> fail.
>
> If I throw a brick into a stream, the stream keeps flowing. It just
> goes around the brick. It adapts to changing circumstances in a "go
> with the flow" kind of way. I see that kind of adaptive behavior as
> very different from mechanistic behavior.
We agree that adaptation isn't best described in mechanical terms. But
does your example serve? One could say that the machine is adapting when
it smashes the brick and the stream can be described mechanically.
But the technician who adapts the machine and the farmer who adapts the
water (to his purposes) can't be described mechanically and retain the
notion of purpose.
bruce
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