Re: poly: polymath digest for 16 Dec 97

d.brin writes:
> This is the compulsory/plausible explanation that I love the best, because
> it means there are tons of beautiful worlds out there, some with
> philosophical sea beings, but almost no hands-fire potential competitors.

Fire is, of course, difficult to produce in the sea.

However, we have examples of creatures with fairly fine manipulative
control. In fact, octopii have been trained to open jars
successfully. I see no reason in principle that with the right
evolutionary incentives creatures capable of fine manipulative motor
control could not arise in the sea.

Of course, the general idea may be right, and sea creatures might
never achieve high technology on their own. Who knows? There is only
one way to find out.

Perry
Received on Wed Dec 17 15:45:58 1997