artificial intelligence

On Mar 23, 2007, at 06:05 UTC, sraj wrote:

> Why don't we make this discussion on A.I. a little more interesting.
> Presently, as you may be aware we are sitting on a bombshell of an
> idea that Darwin's theory of evolution does not fully explain how
> lifeforms on planet earth evolved.

Who's sitting on this idea, and in what way is it a "bombshell"?
Evolutionary biologists have known for a long time that while Darwin
was basically right (and amazingly insightful for his time), the actual
details have needed some refinement (e.g. the concept of punctuated
equilibrium, or the existence of lateral gene transfer). I'd hardly
call that a bombshell, though. That's just the progress of science.

Or are you referring to the creationist nut-jobs who periodically
manage to take over a few U.S. school boards?

> A complex structure like the eye for instance, can it evolve based on
> Darwin's theory of NATURAL SELECTION combined with RANDOM MUTATIONS

Yes, it can, and in fact it has evolved several times. Oops, wait, let
me say it this way:

YES, it CAN, and in FACT it has evolved SEVERAL TIMES.

> I have full belief in Darwin's theory of natural selection, but is
> just this one theory enough to explain every aspect of evolution?

As noted, evolutionary theory has been refined to account for more
subtle details in the last few decades. Important but hardly
earth-shaking, IMO.

> It is difficult for me to believe that over a period of 5 million
> years - Just 500,000 generations, if we assume one generation to be a
> period of 10 years - it would be possible to make all the well
crafted
> changes required to make humans out of the common ancestors of
> Chimpanzees and Humans - by RANDOM MUTATIONS and NATURAL SELECTION
> alone.

Well, you probably just need to read up on the topic some more. This
hardly seems like the best forums to ask for recommendations on
anthropology and evolutionary biology, though.

> As I see it Nature is intelligent, and evolution is an intelligent
> process of change, combining a directed process of trail and error
> (and yes some amount of chance and luck), to take advantage of an
> opening in an ecosystem. In this model Nature express her
> intelligence through the medium of bees and humans.

You're anthropormorphizing in a rather blatant way. This is not
helpful in understanding. If it helps you write good poetry, then
great; but don't expect it to help you understand how the universe
works.

Nature is not a person (of any gender); it's just the sum of physical
laws, and it's not intelligent, except insofar as evolution has
happened to create species with intelligence (because that helped
members of those species to reproduce more successfully).

Best,
- Joe

Joe Strout -- joe@...