Tuesday, March 9, 2010

One in the eye for irreducible complexity

Who could resist the title? Not I. But the theory of Irreducible Complexity has always seemed to be pretty odd. I'm not really sure what this discovery proves other than the worthlessness of the IC theory. But then that was always a given, really.
I have seen these hydra and very pretty they are although the ones I've seen are probably a bit bigger than these ones and I didn't know about the light making them curl up.
Some people with an interest in vision and such may have interesting comments to make.

SMUTDATE: Figure 1

24 comments:

ckc (not kc) said...

...and, of course, if you want to delve into a wonderful range of responses to light (no eyes yet, sadly), just visit the plant kingdom

Hamish Mack said...

Plants with eyes, now we're talking. This maybe why pineapples are harder to catch these days.

ckc (not kc) said...

...they may not have eyes, but they know when it's time to get up

mikey said...

I would merely point out that my beurre blanc is wildly complex, and, far from being irreducible, MUST be reduced in order to achieve that very complexity...

ckc (not kc) said...

...we all know that you're front-loaded

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I remember that theory!

"Greater can not come from lesser."

Catholic, ya know.

P.S. W.V.: pullemu

|>
|_/
_|
……
………
………………………………………
……….
………. >(‘> >(‘>
………. >()))*>
……….
~

ckc (not kc) said...

|>
|_/
_|
……
………
………………………………………
……….
………. >(‘> >(‘>
………. >()))*>
……….
~


(hmmm... Brooklyn?)

(wv whangsx - my favorite)

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I call it "An Emu on a Cliff Overlooking the Ocean with 3 Fish, 2 of Which Are Really Small".
~

ckc (not kc) said...

(well, now I feel really foolish!)

(why no meat?)

Hamish Mack said...

Not to worry ckc, it is from Thunder's Incomprehensible period.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

That was my best work, A.K.!

The Indecipherable Phase lasted longer, but pulled in less loot.
~

ckc (not kc) said...

...you should try incontestible (perhaps with a soupcon of inadvertent)

mikey said...

You younguns truly have no respect for us older human wreckage. I have enough freaking trouble with the intra-blog references, if you're gonna go all inter-blog meta, I'm going to be unable to keep up.

And, as fair warning, that's when I go off on tangents.

Just saying...``

ckc (not kc) said...

(who you callin' a youngun!! I earned this hypertension!)

(wv aboor - well, excuse me!!)

Substance McGravitas said...

"Greater can not come from lesser."

Yes yes, girls point and laugh.

mikey said...

The key to understanding entropy is that it's equations work for closed systems.

Those are systems that have all their energy contained in them. In any system that receives energy from external sources, entropy equations do not yield zero.

So for anything less than the ENTIRE UNIVERSE, entropy is NOT your friend.

Um, thank you. I'll be here all week. Please tip your veal...

ckc (not kc) said...

...like I needed something else that's not my friend! Thank you, entropy!

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Entropy is doing my job review.

(Semi-annual, for doublemint fun!)
~

Smut Clyde said...

Plants with eyes, now we're talking.

POTATOES.

Smut Clyde said...

Of note -- other cnidarians do have eyes, decent image-forming ones at that, so I don't see the big deal in finding opsin-based photosensitive cells in hydra. For all we know, the ancestor of today's freshwater hydra might have had eyes but lost them on account of them being over-engineered for the hydra life-style.

Where does the New Scientist journalist get off, describing hydra as "early" animals? -- they've been evolving for as long as he or she has.

fish said...

Smut is right, this is as likely a postmodern deconstruction of the eye as it is a primitive progenitor of the eye. Hydra are notorious for hanging around the mall dropping acid and discussing Borges. Leave it to a few extremists to take the whole "mind's eye" thing literally.

fish said...

It has just occurred to me that I may have been thinking of Mikey instead of hydra.

Hamish Mack said...

What sort of visual system do the mutant Turkey's have? A birds eye view?

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Where does the New Scientist journalist get off, describing hydra as "early" animals? -- they've been evolving for as long as he or she has.

Well put, this is also a pet peeve of mine, a throwback to the old scala naturae model that has Man (white man at that) as the "pinnacle" of creation.

Hell, how can one argue that humans are "more evolved" than the parasites than are particular to humans?