Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id OAA10158 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 28 Aug 2001 14:41:39 +0100 Message-ID: <3B8B9F1B.53CC648F@bioinf.man.ac.uk> Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 14:39:39 +0100 From: Chris Taylor <Christopher.Taylor@man.ac.uk> Organization: University of Manchester X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Song of Myself References: <3B856B25.31601.B0164A@localhost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> > Just as mind can't be reduced to brain, organic form can't be reduced
> > to genes.
> >
> Organic form emerges from genes, which also possess a form of
> self-reference (although not consciously so), in that they self-
> replicate.
And let's not forget that life is a perpetual thing - genes don't make
up an organism from scratch, there is always a cell of some description
already. This just adds weight to the Neo orthodoxy imho.
> This is exactly what researchers were saying in the 80s, and Sheldrake deals
> with this in The Presence of the Past. Yes, histones are among the "master
> proteins" that interact with genes, but this merely *describes* rather than
> explains what goes on in the cell. When proteins tell genes what to do,
> who's telling the proteins what to do? Why, of course, the genes are
> telling them. And these genes are instructed by still other proteins, and
> on and on it goes like this, round and round. For every answer we arrive
> at, another question automatically pops up. It's an endlessly recursive
> loop. There's no possibility that chemistry can ever explain the basis of
> form in the body. It's a joke with no punch line, a shaggy dog story.
As with all chicken and eggs, the answer is both together. There is no
pause in life, no start to 'get going' from; we are the latest islands
in a time-continuous sea of protoplasm (ok crap imagery but you get the
point I hope).
> And the Holy Grail is always just around the corner.
The last estimate of the nature and position of the grail may be that it
is around the corner. This will change as we develop more knowledge.
That is the nature of science and is not a valid critique.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Taylor (chris@bioinf.man.ac.uk)
http://bioinf.man.ac.uk/ »people»chris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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