Posted: Jun 23, 2017 5:35 pm
Thommo wrote:SafeAsMilk wrote:DavidMcC wrote:Thommo wrote:...
3) As far as the ordinary desire to learn goes there is a perfectly rational and well developed area of study that accounts for it without multiplication of entities - the theory of evolution. No challenge has been made to this. No actual obstacle for curiosity as an evolved trait has been suggested, let alone substantiated.
Sorry to "nit-pick", but there are obviously evolutionary limits to curiosity, because too much of it tends to get you killed (like the cat).
I don't think his statement was that there were no evolutionary limits to curiosity, rather there's no reason to think that curiosity isn't an evolved trait.
But to take your point, evolution doesn't work on the scale of the individual. You can see it clearly with insects, who will do all sorts of suicidal things, exhausting options. Their numbers and persistence allow them to be successful: evolution doesn't necessarily have a problem with death. For sure, creatures working on longer timescales will tend to be more cautious about dying, but fatal curiosity can still produce results in the long run.
Good luck.
Yeah. He's going to need a bit of luck if there are no limits (evolutionary or otherwise) to his curiosity.