Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Not unrelated

Courtesy of American Catholic comes this recent remark of Stephen Hawking:
The universe is governed by science. But science tells us that we can’t solve the equations, directly in the abstract. We need to use the effective theory of Darwinian natural selection of those societies most likely to survive. We assign them higher value.
 "We" assign them higher value? Who exactly do you mean by "we" Kimosabe? That should really trouble us.

And here is a rough question: What happens if the societies we think are most likely to survive don't? What if you're wrong Mr. Hawking and it turns out that the rational scientists aren't all that adaptive?

This quote is nonsensical on some many levels it hurts. Darwinian natural selection doesn't tell us which societies are most likely to survive. It only tells us which ones did survive. The race is not always to the strong et cetera. Most people would have bet on the sabre-tooth tiger as likely to survive but it did not.

Hawking has a favourite in the race and he wants us all to accept it as the winner. And how far is he willing to go in assigning "higher value" to the culture he favours? Is he willing to use the law to make sure people who believe the right things, Darwinianly speaking, get the best jobs and are the only ones entitled to govern others.

Really, his goals are anything but Darwinian. He wants to load the system so that one group wins and everyone else loses.

No comments:

Post a Comment