[Fis] Tao and information processing (for a human): Fwd: Re: Emotional Sentience #2 The Metaphor of The Tao -The evolution of the emotional brain

[a.sloman at bham.ac.uk]

Thanks Eric,

A point of clarification.

You wrote:

> I also like your reference to Ganti and the minimal form of life. How do you see
> Ganti's work in relationship to von Neumann's self reproducing automata?
>
> The fact Ganti could be considered a minimalist or essentialist in trying to
> give the minimal properties that any life form must have, appears to go counter
> to the what appears to be your argument that life is highly complex, so complex
> that it requires a new theory of physics.

Ganti was discussing minimal requirements for *sexual* reproduction, combining
two different, though related, genomes.

Many organisms use *asexual* reproduction (e.g. vegetative reproduction)
achieved simply by growing new appendages to existing structures. Ganti was not
making claims (and I do not make claims) about what *any life form must have*
e.g. plants that reproduce simply by extending themselves.

I have not claimed that fundamental physical theories need to be extended to
account for those forms of reproduction, as I have not thought about (or read
about) details of vegetative reproduction.

Best wishes,

Aaron
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