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First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature

popularmechanics.com

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Re: First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature

#2

Post by teddyh »

This gives us four possibilities:

1. This geared creature must be considered part mechanical. A cyborg, if you will.

2. A "gear" is no longer (and was never) a "mechanical" device, but instead an organic one. Using gears is no longer (and was maybe never) doing mechanics.

3. Whether something is mechanical or organic depends on the process which created it. This is the "colored bits" or "patent" view. (If I build something using intuition instead of reason, am I no longer doing mechanics?)

4. A gear is no longer (and was never) either mechanic or organic, and is simply a physical process. The whole "mechanical" and "organic" division is a false dichotomy.

Re: First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature

#5

Post by andrew_gardener »

teddyh wrote: post #2

This gives us four possibilities: 1. This geared creature must be considered part mechanical. A cyborg, if you will. 2. A "gear" is no longer (and was never) a "mechanical" device, but instead an organic one. Using gears is no longer (and was maybe never) doing mechanics. 3. Whether something is mechanical or organic depends on the process which created it. This is the "colored bits" or "patent" view. (If I build som…

I think option 4 is most accurate.

Bones and joints basically act as levers and pivots so why can't gear like body parts be found in other lifeforms.

Re: First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature

#6

Post by igravious »

teddyh wrote: post #2

This gives us four possibilities: 1. This geared creature must be considered part mechanical. A cyborg, if you will. 2. A "gear" is no longer (and was never) a "mechanical" device, but instead an organic one. Using gears is no longer (and was maybe never) doing mechanics. 3. Whether something is mechanical or organic depends on the process which created it. This is the "colored bits" or "patent" view. (If I build som…

5. All dichotomies are false dichotomies.

6. Creatures like this shake my faith in evolution.

Re: First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature

#8

Post by brianpgordon »

igravious wrote: post #6
teddyh wrote: post #2

This gives us four possibilities: 1. This geared creature must be considered part mechanical. A cyborg, if you will. 2. A "gear" is no longer (and was never) a "mechanical" device, but instead an organic one. Using gears is no longer (and was maybe never) doing mechanics. 3. Whether something is mechanical or organic depends on the process which created it. This is the "colored bits" or "patent" view. (If I build som…

5. All dichotomies are false dichotomies. 6. Creatures like this shake my faith in evolution.

Creatures with cool adaptations strengthen my faith in evolution. It's creatures like the panda or the koala or the sloth that shake my faith in evolution.

Re: First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature

#10

Post by john_b »

teddyh wrote: post #2

This gives us four possibilities: 1. This geared creature must be considered part mechanical. A cyborg, if you will. 2. A "gear" is no longer (and was never) a "mechanical" device, but instead an organic one. Using gears is no longer (and was maybe never) doing mechanics. 3. Whether something is mechanical or organic depends on the process which created it. This is the "colored bits" or "patent" view. (If I build som…

Four. A gear is just a piece of geometry that happens to be useful for a number of practical purposes. Same with rods, rings, and so on. People apply labels to it according to how they perceive it.
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