My questions are too easy! Thanks to you, O Reader, I now know that evolved elements pressed into service in some other context are exaptations. Exaptive features are the illustration of the feedback look between ourselves and our environment, something that says that our form in the landscape changes the adaptive landscape itself. And this is what science is based on, and education, and progress -- the fact that a feature can fortuitously bridge you to a new niche that would have otherwise been inaccessible. It's a good excuse too, if these unpredictable abilities can arise, to do whatever you can and do it as well as possible, be that research or weblogs. The key is new thinking, and pushing back boundaries. Progess as exploration. Bootstrapping from heat regulation to self-powered flight. Civilisation is the exaptive feature that was the solution to having arms too short to pick fleas off your own back. (Thanks Dan, Alex Robinson and Kevan for filling in my blanks.)
My questions are too easy! Thanks to you, O Reader, I now know that evolved elements pressed into service in some other context are exaptations. Exaptive features are the illustration of the feedback look between ourselves and our environment, something that says that our form in the landscape changes the adaptive landscape itself. And this is what science is based on, and education, and progress -- the fact that a feature can fortuitously bridge you to a new niche that would have otherwise been inaccessible. It's a good excuse too, if these unpredictable abilities can arise, to do whatever you can and do it as well as possible, be that research or weblogs. The key is new thinking, and pushing back boundaries. Progess as exploration. Bootstrapping from heat regulation to self-powered flight. Civilisation is the exaptive feature that was the solution to having arms too short to pick fleas off your own back. (Thanks Dan, Alex Robinson and Kevan for filling in my blanks.)