Plants don't absorb green colored light. There's a gap in the spectrum of light that plants can absorb. Why haven't they closed that gap and become capable of absorbing green light?
quote:Plants don't absorb green colored light. There's a gap in the spectrum of light that plants can absorb. Why haven't they closed that gap and become capable of absorbing green light?
I imagine the mutation neccessary in the relevent gene to allow them to utilise green light either hasn't happened or it wasn't beneficial enogh to be selected for.
Well... yeah. But answering the question of why it hasn't evolved by saying that it hasn't evolved isn't really answering the question
Not too long ago I was channel hopping and came across a documentary on crows.
Was that the one where they were dropping nuts on the street and waiting for cars to drive over and break them? And they even figured out to wait for the red lights to run out there and pick them up?
Nevertheless, this anecdote points to another set of Genuine Puzzles in Biology: animal cognition and consciousness.
I'd wager its less puzzling than you think...
Are animals conscious?
Well, they're not unconscious (unless they're sleeping).
A better word for what I think you're talking about would be sentient, no?
What emotions do they feel?
How about another anecdote:
When I was a kid, my friend's mom brought home their little white curly dog after it had just gotten totally shaved for the summer. I sware, that dog was embarrassed. I had never seen it hide and whine under the couch like, ever. Eventually it would come out, and then we'd point and laugh at it (it really was incredibly funny looking), and then it'd run and hide and whine some more.
Although, you could argue that it was just following instincts and not really feeling an emotion and that we were just anthropomorphizing it. So whatever.
Do they have a theory of mind?
Animals? Only humans have theories.
Many interesting questions.
Yes, but I think the science of animal cognition has probably gotten further than you're aware, what with the asking if they're conscious or not, so you should look into it if you find it interesting.
IMO, pattern recognition is hard wired into the most primitive portions of our brain.
I hafta agree. I'm really afraid of snakes.
But I don't even have to see that its a snake. Even just a shape like this...
...can freak me out. Well, not on a computer screen but if you printed that out and put it on the floor by my desk and stumbled across it, then it'd prolly scare me.
The same for humans. We have patterns associated with danger hard wired into the most primitive portions of our brains. This may be why we call them irrational fears because it overrides the grey matter that evolved in more intelligent species like us.
I've been startled by a cord that was coiled up on the floor. Like heart-racing full on fight of flight...
I creeps me out just thinking about it.
For me, the recognition of that pattern definately causes fear.
The rustling sound made by the spinning wheel and the bb's rattling around in the wheel sent me into immediate panic mode. My heart rate went from 70 to 200 within seconds. After I calmed down a bit I laughed my ass off, but there was no laughing for about 5 seconds.
Yeah, afterwards you really feel stupid... because of how strongly you react.
But I've never scared myself from a noise I caused. Though, my hearing is poor. And my eyes are good.
What about you? Maybe bad eyes and good hearing? Could we just rely more on our strongest sense for the pattern recognition?
the spinning wheel and the bb's rattling around in the wheel