[extropy-chat] Singularity Drugs

[John K Clark]

Robert Bradbury wrote:

> John, can you *prove* that evolution
> never came up with supersonic flight?

No of course not. Outside of pure mathematics you can never *prove* that
something has never existed; but I think we can be as sure as we can be sure
of anything that there has never been a supersonic bird. I would estimate
the existence of such a bird about as likely as the existence of Jesus as
described in the bible.

> it doesn't violate any laws of physics

True, a supersonic bird wouldn't violate the laws of physics but it probably
would violate the laws of evolution. There is probably no way to make a
million tiny changes in a falcon and turn it supersonic, not if each and
every one of those changes must be immediately beneficial; and even if such
paths did exist they would be so extraordinarily astronomically rare that
evolution could never find them among the tangle of dead ends.

> As there is little survival advantage associated
> with supersonic flight it is not surprising that it hasn't evolved

I am far from certain there would be no survival advantage to supersonic
flight, but it wouldn't matter even if you're right. You are giving reasons
why evolution was unable to come up with something, but that doesn't change
the fact that it was unable to come up with it. I'm not interested in
excuses why evolution is incompetent, the fact is that it is.

And I find it imposable to believe that a macroscopic part that could turn
in 360 degrees wouldn't come in handy from time to time. And I think an
animal with bones made of steel, or that could breathe fire, or had a heart
powered by a nuclear reactor could find uses for his talents, but the design
problem was just too hard. Evolution was stumped.

  John K Clark