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> structures meant for "Meant"? Nothing in your body or brain is "meant" for anything. There is no "meaning", or "intention", for starters. And the brain is no

by Tharkun 10y ago

> structures meant for "Meant"? Nothing in your body or brain is "meant" for anything. There is no "meaning", or "intention", for starters. And the brain is nothing if not adaptable. If your brain is "meant" to be anything, it's versatile.

sandworm101 10y ago
There are parts of the brain meant for specific tasks. It isn't a homogeneous mass of neurons. The bit that is working the eyes atm was designed (via evolution) to work the eyes. As was the bit that takes the message from the eyes and ups the heart rate when a lion appears in your field of view. There is certainly some flexibility, but the basic task layout is a layout, not a random allocation.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  >The bit that is working the eyes atm was designed (via evolution) to work the eyes. Evolution is a random process, there is no designing, there's no goals.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    (1) Evolution is not random. Mutation may be random, but feature selection is based on a rule. (2) There is a goal: species survival. (3) The only rule is that whatever aids (2) is a rule for purposes of (1).
    - gumby 10y ago
      Species survival? Gene reproduction you mean. The organism is simply a way for the gene to propagate itself. Check out Dawkins' The Selfish Gene.
      - sandworm101 10y ago
        I disagree with Dawkins. If genes were the unit for evolution, we wouldn't exists. We would all just be bacteria spewing out copies of genes, with the planet buried in a pile of tiny protein chains. Genes are the servants of the species. They are a tool used by species to pass on traits, or even to acquire traits from other species. Genes are inert absent a species using them.
        8note 10y ago
        that suggests that once born, an individual could have all of their genes removed, and be perfectly fine, other than not being able to pass on traits to a new individual.
        sandworm101 10y ago
        Yes. Genes and DNA are not the same thing. DNA is a means of recording and passing along genes. And alien organism that doesn't use our system of DNA/RNA could still possess genes. So it is theoretically possible to remove all manifestations of genes and have the organism continue to function. This is not very far fetched. Much of our DNA is used for a short time during development and then effectively turns off for the rest of our life. Taking that DNA away might go unnoticed.
  - evanws 10y ago
    You know exactly what he meant. You are using the word design in a different way than him. There's absolutely a part of the brain that specializes processing visual information, just as there are organs throughout the rest of your body that specialize with other different tasks.
Johnny555 10y ago
I think pretty much everything in your body is specialized and is "meant" for something. No matter how hard you try, you're not going to get your heart to replace your pancreas or kidneys. And you can't replace your lungs with brain tissue. Sure, doctors can transplant a toe to replace a thumb or a heart blood vessel with a vein from a leg with great success, but it's doing pretty much the same function, just in a different place. As a whole, humans are quite adaptable to their environment, but specific body parts tend to be specialized.
- tremon 10y ago
  you can't replace your lungs with brain tissue No, but the brain can replace brain tissue for one task with brain tissue for another task. It's called neuroplasticity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity#Treatment_of_brain_damage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity#Treatment_of_b... I agree with the GP, if there's one characterization that applies to the brain, it's "versatile".
8note 10y ago
meaning is a nice convention to signify that something works well for some use case. like, you didn't intend to type anything, it was just a series random processes that resulted in some text, but by convention, it's nice to say that you meant to write something.

by Tharkun 10y ago

sandworm101 10y ago

There are parts of the brain meant for specific tasks. It isn't a homogeneous mass of neurons. The bit that is working the eyes atm was designed (via evolution) to work the eyes. As was the bit that takes the message from the eyes and ups the heart rate when a lion appears in your field of view. There is certainly some flexibility, but the basic task layout is a layout, not a random allocation.

nommm-nommm 10y ago
>The bit that is working the eyes atm was designed (via evolution) to work the eyes. Evolution is a random process, there is no designing, there's no goals.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  (1) Evolution is not random. Mutation may be random, but feature selection is based on a rule. (2) There is a goal: species survival. (3) The only rule is that whatever aids (2) is a rule for purposes of (1).
  - gumby 10y ago
    Species survival? Gene reproduction you mean. The organism is simply a way for the gene to propagate itself. Check out Dawkins' The Selfish Gene.
    - sandworm101 10y ago
      I disagree with Dawkins. If genes were the unit for evolution, we wouldn't exists. We would all just be bacteria spewing out copies of genes, with the planet buried in a pile of tiny protein chains. Genes are the servants of the species. They are a tool used by species to pass on traits, or even to acquire traits from other species. Genes are inert absent a species using them.
      - 8note 10y ago
        that suggests that once born, an individual could have all of their genes removed, and be perfectly fine, other than not being able to pass on traits to a new individual.
        sandworm101 10y ago
        Yes. Genes and DNA are not the same thing. DNA is a means of recording and passing along genes. And alien organism that doesn't use our system of DNA/RNA could still possess genes. So it is theoretically possible to remove all manifestations of genes and have the organism continue to function. This is not very far fetched. Much of our DNA is used for a short time during development and then effectively turns off for the rest of our life. Taking that DNA away might go unnoticed.
- evanws 10y ago
  You know exactly what he meant. You are using the word design in a different way than him. There's absolutely a part of the brain that specializes processing visual information, just as there are organs throughout the rest of your body that specialize with other different tasks.

Johnny555 10y ago

I think pretty much everything in your body is specialized and is "meant" for something. No matter how hard you try, you're not going to get your heart to replace your pancreas or kidneys. And you can't replace your lungs with brain tissue. Sure, doctors can transplant a toe to replace a thumb or a heart blood vessel with a vein from a leg with great success, but it's doing pretty much the same function, just in a different place. As a whole, humans are quite adaptable to their environment, but specific body parts tend to be specialized.

tremon 10y ago
you can't replace your lungs with brain tissue No, but the brain can replace brain tissue for one task with brain tissue for another task. It's called neuroplasticity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity#Treatment_of_brain_damage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity#Treatment_of_b... I agree with the GP, if there's one characterization that applies to the brain, it's "versatile".

8note 10y ago

meaning is a nice convention to signify that something works well for some use case. like, you didn't intend to type anything, it was just a series random processes that resulted in some text, but by convention, it's nice to say that you meant to write something.