Predicting the Future
One important aspect of operating in the environment is predicting future outcomes. Let us then assume that the evolution of our species has lead to the optimal development of faculties that allows us to predict the future. Since these tools are not very good, is it fair to infer that future prediction is just not possible? Evolution has literally had million of years to develop the faculties needed to predict the future and yet by far and large has failed.
If evolution is not capable of developing the faculties needed to predict the future, what luck will we have, as products of evolution, in developing technologies that predict the future.
This seems to suggest that accurate future prediction is simply impossible to accomplish.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
“Let us then assume that the evolution of our species has lead to the optimal development of faculties that allows us to predict the future.”
HA!
September 26th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
What, you can’t predict the future? I feel sorry for you.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I totally knew you were going to say that.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I agree with Boose here - there are plenty of predictions that might be inaccurate, but nonetheless increase the reproductive success of a human (for example, a bias towards unwarranted optimism).
September 29th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Also, this is the ’sharks with lasers’ argument- Sharks would benefit evolutionarily from having effective and energy-efficient lasers to kill their prey and defend themselves with, but evolution just doesn’t have the materials available to create such a thing (on this planet at least).