“This is the real point of the cell boundary, not “protection from the environment”—it keeps the fruits of chemical labor inside a spatial boundary.”
What basis does Yudkowsky have for this claim?
For example, the speed of biological/chemical processes is related to diffusion, and the speed of diffusion is related to the size of cells. By restricting diffusion to a relatively small chunk of water, you can get much faster reactions. If this reason is the dominant “why” of the evolution of cells, then cells would sound more like an object-level innovation.
I suspect that Yudkowsky is ascribing more knowledge to the researchers into early life than the researchers actually have; most disciplines look more impressive from a distance than up close.
“This is the real point of the cell boundary, not “protection from the environment”—it keeps the fruits of chemical labor inside a spatial boundary.”
What basis does Yudkowsky have for this claim?
For example, the speed of biological/chemical processes is related to diffusion, and the speed of diffusion is related to the size of cells. By restricting diffusion to a relatively small chunk of water, you can get much faster reactions. If this reason is the dominant “why” of the evolution of cells, then cells would sound more like an object-level innovation.
I suspect that Yudkowsky is ascribing more knowledge to the researchers into early life than the researchers actually have; most disciplines look more impressive from a distance than up close.