[extropy-chat] limits of computer feeling

[Jef Allbright]

On 3/20/07, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> > And the emerging field of epigenetics, part of the trend toward
> > considering systems in both evolutionary and developmental terms
> > ("evo/devo"), lends credence to the long-held suspicion that there's
> > something more fundamental behind Darwinian evolution.
>
> Darwin is just about replication. Errors and limited resource context
> automatically emerge in this spacetime. Of course, it takes a long time
> before mere replicators become effective Darwinian agents.
>
> You can't find something more basic/fundamental than this.

Yeah, I should have qualified my statement to something like "...more
fundamental behind standard biological evolution."  I agree with the
intent of your comment, as it extends to include non-biological
evolution, but I doubt that our broader interpretation qualifies as
"Darwinian" for most people, or even most scientists.  By "more
fundamental", I'm alluding to description of processes all the way
down to the level of information, but I suspect we already agree on
this as well.

- Jef