Darwin's "strange inversion of reasoning''

被引：44
作者：
Dennett, Daniel [1 ]
机构：
[1] Tufts Univ, Ctr Cognit Studies, Medford, MA 02155 USA
来源：
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 2009年 / 106卷
关键词：
evolution; meme;
D O I：
10.1073/pnas.0904433106
中图分类号：
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号：
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要：
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection unifies the world of physics with the world of meaning and purpose by proposing a deeply counterintuitive "inversion of reasoning'' (according to a 19th century critic): "to make a perfect and beautiful machine, it is not requisite to know how to make it'' [MacKenzie RB (1868) (Nisbet & Co., London)]. Turing proposed a similar inversion: to be a perfect and beautiful computing machine, it is not requisite to know what arithmetic is. Together, these ideas help to explain how we human intelligences came to be able to discern the reasons for all of the adaptations of life, including our own.
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页码：10061 / 10065
页数：5
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