(urth) interview question

[Jeff Wilson]

On 1/3/2011 9:23 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>
>> Gerry Quinn: It's not at all inexplicable.  He thinks of Dollo's Law in the context of
>> his handwriting, specifically his thumb, which he cannot use; he must hold
>> the pen between his fingers with his thumb unused.  He is in the same
>> situation a human would be if humans evolved to no longer need thumbs, and
>> the thumb, or the neural networks controlling it, withered away.
>
> Gerry I'm in need of further explanation to understand your theory. You are implying
> an abo once had a thumb but evolved to not need one, then rediscovered the need while
> imitating Dr. Marsch? Why did abos once have a thumb then lose the need for it?
>
> And, of course, the obvious question: why does an Abo know about an obscure evolutionary
> principle postulated by some Belgian guy on earth in 1890 and connect it to his handwriting?
> Sound more like something an anthropologist would know about. If a minute portion of the
> brain's wiring can be imitated surely a thumb can be. Seem to be serious doubt over whether
> Dr. Marsch really has been replaced. There are a lot of cats about. Perhaps one bit his hand. 		 	   		

I'm still a little hazy on the Dollo's Law thing. Why is it relevant wrt 
to abo's shape-shifting within a single generation?  If it *is* 
relevant, why can't the new adaptation work just as well as the old, 
like cetacean fatty dorsal fins vs the piscine skeletal ones?

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >