Hello Dan
>
> Ron:
> "free will" is natural selection. Is'nt it?.
Dan:
Natural selection pertains to the biological level. There is no choice
involved. The fittest survive to pass on those survival traits while
the less fit hit an evolutionary dead end. At the biological level,
the environment seems to determine the fittest. For example, global
warming is threatening many species not able to adapt. No choice is
involved.
Ron:
First off, thank you for the discussion Dan.
I must begin by placing my comment within the context of Pirsigs
theory of evolution, the idea that Quality operates on discreet levels.
This gives us as adherents to this theory pause to reconsider the implications
of the idea of what is meant by "natural selection".
Choice, or Quality, is indeed involved only on the biological level as you
state.
The bedrock of RMP's assertion in this matter is indeed that "free will" is
Quality
it is what he meant when he stated that atoms may be viewed as prefering their
bonds
that "free will" is exercised on the inorganic level as well. The consistancy
of
this statement
follows that "natural selection" and "free will" is indeed Quality but witin
differing contexts.
Dan:
Even social patterns seem bound by determinism and not free will. Take
the act of circumcising males. Jewish men have been circumcised for
centuries but they are still born with foreskins. If evolution was a
matter of free will, wouldn't Jewish males be born sans foreskin by
now?
Ron:
I think that Pirsigs explanation of the four levels of Quality adequitly
describes this
Phenomena by asserting that the comparison drawn above refers to two different
levels or types of evolution. Cutting off the foreskin is a social level value,
an intellectual
alteration of the biological form not an intellectual or social selection based
on biologicaly
inherited traits.
Dan:
Intellectual patterns may exhibit evolutionary free will though to be
honest I am hard pressed to think of any examples. Can you?
Ron:
Human rights, trial by jury, self government.....just off the top of my head
are examples given by Bob Pirsig if I'm not mistaken... sanitation..
agriculture, science and medicine...all contributed to increased quality
of life and population explosions to name some biological benefits.
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