Re: virus: RE: virus-digest V2 #136

Dave Pape (davepape@dial.pipex.com)
Tue, 27 May 1997 21:39:08 +0100 (BST)

At 18:59 26/05/97 UT, Mike wrote:
>Hmmm,
>
>Would somebody elaborate on this:
>
>Ideas can be thought of in both ways as well. Do they use building blocks to
>build copies of themselves or do they emerge as holistic properties of lower
>level replicators. Although both ways of looking are talking about the same
>thing, one attributes intent to the high level structure and the other
>doesn't.
>Doesn't intention play a role in both cases regardless of the structure?

I'm tempted to say that intention plays a role in... neither, and that the
higher level structures only APPEAR to have intention, because we don't see
to the lower level processes underlying their apparent behaviour. Thus,
cells APPEAR to WANT to replicate themselves... but the other way of looking
at it is that this intentionality is illusory, and that the replication
behaviour emerges from the non-intentional interaction of cellular chemistry.

I tried to go on, but my head caved in. Sorry.

Dave Pape
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