Biology by itself

By: James V. Kohl | Published on: April 16, 2015

Astrobiology or Earth’s Biology – which ?

Excerpt: “…isn’t biology by itself supposed to tell everyone the just what “does” happen or what “did” happen in the past?”
Top-down causation: an integrating theme within and across the sciences? The first author is George FR Ellis. “He co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking, published in 1973, and is considered one of the world’s leading theorists in cosmology.[1] He is an active Quaker and in 2004 he won the Templeton Prize.[2] From 1989 to 1992 he served as President of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. He is a past President of the International Society for Science and Religion. He is an A-rated researcher with the NRF.”
George directed me to this published work in a comment on “Understanding and accounting for relational context is critical for social neuroscience
He wrote: “This is absolutely correct and forms part of the larger concept that top-down causation is a key factor not just in the way the brain works but in broader contexts in biology and even physics. This is explored here: https://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1.toc
I had written: “New data on how genetic predispositions are epigenetically linked to phenotypically distinct neuroanatomy and behaviors is provided in the honeybee model. Across-species comparisons from insects to vertebrates clearly show that the epigenetic influence of food odors and pheromones continues throughout the life of organisms that collectively survive whereas individuals do not. These comparisons also attest to the relative salience of sensory input from the rearing environment. For example, when viewed from the consistency of animal models and conditioned behaviors, food odors are obviously more important to food selection than is our visual perception of food. Animal models affirm that food odor makes food either appealing or unappealing. Animal models reaffirm that it is the pheromones of other animals that makes them either appealing or unappealing.”
Addendum: One reason for theorists to not take this into consideration is their ignorance of biologically-based cause and effect. Another reason is that the ignorant don’t want to learn.
See for comparison:…there never really has been any bio (Greek for life) in the field of Astrobiology. The articles that come out in various journals are simply loaded with stories and myths inspired by fantasy. You know what you get when you take the ‘bio’ out of the word Astrobiology ? Astrology.
And: Scientific method: Defend the integrity of physics, which also was co-authored by George FR Ellis.


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