From: Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Date: Tue Mar 10 1998 - 19:42:37 MST
> From: Lloyd Miller, Research Director <lloyd@a-albionic.com>
>
> | Dawkins' idea that the biological body is "nothing but" a space ship for
> |"selfish genes" anxious to spread and reproduce themselves is "materialist
> |reductionism" at its worst.....a blatant demand that we ignore the evidence
> |available to each and every one of us for the reality of "wholes"
bla bla bla.
Those who find science a threat to our godlike uniqueness and dignity
have a habit of complaining that scientists reduce us to "nothing but".
Those two little words are an overreaction. When a reductionist says
"nothing but (atoms, cells, genes, etc)" it means "wow, all this
complexity arises from such a simple foundation, isn't that wonderful?"
It does *not* mean "Man is equivalent to a random heap of (atoms, cells,
genes)."
-- "How'd ya like to climb this high without no mountain?" --Porky Pine Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 !! visiting New Mexico, end of March !!
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