Saturday, October 11, 2014

Well, it would, wouldn't it?

… Evolution is evolving in interesting ways - Philosophy and Life. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Neo-Darwinism puts language and music down as an evolutionary by-product or excess. But that is scientifically unsatisfactory, because it is, in effect, saying that there is no direct explanation. It also feels humanly inadequate, leading to comments such as those of the Harvard professor Stephen Pinker, who describes music as "auditory cheesecake". Don't sit next to him during a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion.
Perhaps we have it backwards. Perhaps matter is a creation of consciousness. See also: Does Evolutionary Theory Need a Rethink?

No comments:

Post a Comment