Also, just because we can’t expect to be free of bias doesn’t mean that the bias is “proper functioning” of the hardware. An expected failure, perhaps, but still a failure.
I make a finer distinction of “failure” as something that’s inefficient for it’s clear purpose. E.g. Laryngeal nerve of the giraffe. Evolution will do that on occasion. Sensory interpretations that optical illusions are based on are often optimal for the environment, and are a complement to the power of evolution if anything. Viewing something that is optimal as a failure seems like wishful thinking (though I suspect this is more of a misunderstanding of neurobiology).
Viewing something that is optimal as a failure seems like wishful thinking.
Actually, that seems kind of fair. Something is a “failure to X” if it doesn’t achieve X; something is a “failure” if it doesn’t achieve some implicit goal. You can rhetorically relabel something a “failure” by changing the context.
Vision works well in our usual habitat, so we should expect it to break down in some corner cases that we can construct: agreed. For me to argue further would be to argue the meaning of “failure” in this context, when I’m pretty sure I actually agree with you on all of the substance of our posts.
For me to argue further would be to argue the meaning of “failure” in this context, when I’m pretty sure I actually agree with you on all of the substance of our posts.
I really do not want to argue about semantics either, but our agreed interpretation makes Niel’s statement equivalent to “our visual system is not optimal for non-ancestral environments”, which is highly uninteresting. I think the Dawkin’s larengyal nerve example is much more interesting in this sense, since it points out body designs do not come from a sane Creator, at least in some instances (which is enough for his point).
Since we do not live in the ancestral environment now, I think the quotation could be just underlining how we should viscerally know our brain is going to output sub-optimal crud given certain inputs. Upvoted original.
The No Free Lunch Theorem.
Also, just because we can’t expect to be free of bias doesn’t mean that the bias is “proper functioning” of the hardware. An expected failure, perhaps, but still a failure.
I make a finer distinction of “failure” as something that’s inefficient for it’s clear purpose. E.g. Laryngeal nerve of the giraffe. Evolution will do that on occasion. Sensory interpretations that optical illusions are based on are often optimal for the environment, and are a complement to the power of evolution if anything. Viewing something that is optimal as a failure seems like wishful thinking (though I suspect this is more of a misunderstanding of neurobiology).
Actually, that seems kind of fair. Something is a “failure to X” if it doesn’t achieve X; something is a “failure” if it doesn’t achieve some implicit goal. You can rhetorically relabel something a “failure” by changing the context.
Vision works well in our usual habitat, so we should expect it to break down in some corner cases that we can construct: agreed. For me to argue further would be to argue the meaning of “failure” in this context, when I’m pretty sure I actually agree with you on all of the substance of our posts.
I really do not want to argue about semantics either, but our agreed interpretation makes Niel’s statement equivalent to “our visual system is not optimal for non-ancestral environments”, which is highly uninteresting. I think the Dawkin’s larengyal nerve example is much more interesting in this sense, since it points out body designs do not come from a sane Creator, at least in some instances (which is enough for his point).
Since we do not live in the ancestral environment now, I think the quotation could be just underlining how we should viscerally know our brain is going to output sub-optimal crud given certain inputs. Upvoted original.