2 Jan 2009
Four flavors
Whenever in the natural world there is happening something interesting, it is either supper-time and pairing time. Animals become alive if there is something to eat or mate. Both actions have to do with self-reproduction, self-regeneration and growth: during supper-times the body is regenerated and during pairing-times the species. In the former case the body grows, and in the latter the population. And there is a third form of growth: during insights the mind grows, because insights are based on a cognitive process of acquiring knowledge. Insights are related to learning, and learning in turn can be viewed as self-design. Again a self-* property. Dawkins’ selfish genes come to mind..