Humans are the most complex thing

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Bowser, Mar 1, 2018.

  1. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    Would you agree with the above statement? Disagree? It's something I read but have no way of measuring its accuracy.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2018
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  3. birch Valued Senior Member

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    technically a supposition because there is nothing to compare.
     
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  5. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    As far as we know?
     
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  7. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    Agree

    However if you are allowed to compare something which exist (a human being) against a concept (god) god would win hands down

    But agree, comparing real against real humans are extremely complex BUT more complex than a giraffe?

    ****"
    The recurrent (inferior) laryngeal nerve, which branches off the Vagus nerve at the base of the brain, travels down the neck, around the arteries of the heart and travels back up the neck to ennervate the larynx, or voice box, thereby providing motor function

    http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/06/22/the-laryngeal-nerve-of-the-gir/

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    a woodpecker?

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    Have you ever seen a flicker or woodpecker pounding away at bark, or annoyingly on a tin roof, and wondered how in the world they can do that without bashing in their brains? After all, the force of that is measured at over 1,000x the force of gravity! The answer is pretty complex, but you can break it down into some simple parts

    http://infinitespider.com/woodpecker-doesnt-bash-brain/

    *****

    Or does the human complexity come from, what I would contend, the unpredictability of humans?

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  8. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    How do you define complexity?
     
  9. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    all that we are--physically and mentally. Perhaps we could limit it to simply physical. The statement above is generic..
     
  10. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I don't think we're physically more complex than other animals. Are we even as complex as a mountain, with its variety of crystal structures? (At least, I was always under the impression that inorganic chemistry was more complex than organic.)

    Arguably our psychology and social structures are pretty complex.
     
  11. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    How might the structure of the brain compare to other universal phenomena? It seems to be rather complex in its structure and function, even at a most basic level.
     
  12. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Disagree, they cannot be more complex than the universe itself.
     
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  13. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    Certainly the most complex things we know of in the universe.

    And being "in" the universe means they contribute to the overall complexity of the universe. They are not more complex than the universe.
     
  14. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    Semantics.
     
  15. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    No, fact. I agree that we are the most complex thing we currently know of in the universe. Simple. Confused?
     
  16. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Disagree. We're pretty complex - but there are animals which are just as complex as us, and there are almost surely other beings more complex out there.
     
  17. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I read that also.
    But rather than call it complexity, I would call it an evolutionary anomali, which makes the Giraffe more complex than humans in that respect, but I would not call that an advantage.
    The long neck is an advantage, for obvious reasons.

    As to woodpeckers, ever watched two (300 lb) male Big Horn sheep getting it on. Just watching those collisions gives me a headache.

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    Evolution tends to winnow unneccessary parts of a structure or organism, allowing for greater efficiency, but at the same time extending those features which do allow for greater efficiency, usually in very specific abilities.

    Humans still have remnants of parts which at one time were advantageous, but are no longer necessary. In time, those will disappear, I'm sure.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2018
  18. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    As Bateson may have been the first to point out, if the definition of "thing" is inclusive enough, a coral reef would probably be more complex than a human being.

    That includes logical level or "mental" (in humans) complexity, the logical levels of behavioral organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steps_to_an_Ecology_of_Mind
     
  19. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    I agree. We came into being from a complex Universe and increased its complexity.

    If you wish to remove humans from the Universe to then stand them alongside the Universe for complexity comparison you should have a separate outside of Universe origin for the human

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  20. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    Well that makes about as much sense as potatoes.
     
  21. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    It goes without saying that we can only draw conclusions about things we know, so to say 'there might be things we don't know' is superfluous.

    There are lots of things to compare. Oranges, pebbles, flatworms. All of them are less complex than a human.

    To think that we can only compare ourselves to ... things that are comparable to us ... is defeating the question.
     
  22. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    I was checking whether anyone knew of something that might be more complex. I hadn't made any conclusions.
     
  23. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I read somewhere that at least in mathematics, Chaos is the most complex state. Whereas mathematical ordering into an apparent complex pattern actually presents a simplification, along with efficiency.
     
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