Mr. Dawkins, why was Darwin right? – Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins, the world's most famous atheist and author of numerous best-selling books, decided to abandon the enlightenment of adults, and with his new book “The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True” he focuses on 5-year-olds, claiming that they have to learn the theory of evolution along with their first letters. 

Richard Dawkins is no longer satisfied with his books that challenge the existence of God and which are sold in millions of copies, or with the fact that “liberal” media is placing him among the stars and call him “the most famous atheist in the world”. He is also no longer interested in suing Pope Benedict XVI for "crimes against humanity", because of alleged covering up of sexual abuses in the Catholic Church. Dawkins now has a new target audience, which he wants win and teach them how religion is bad – the kids, preschool kids. 

Richard Dawkins, great intellectual, evolutionary biologist, writer and professor at Oxford University, has recently published his latest book “The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True”, aimed primarily at preschool children. In just as short period, this book raised more dust – and more calls for a ban – than his best-sellers like “The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design” (in which he challenged the theory that any invention must have its inventor, and which served to believers as a great analogy and key evidence for the existence of the Almighty),  or The God Delusion (in which he brings many proofs that there is no God that supposedly governs our lives).

Dawkins says that he was annoyed because the opponents Darwin's theory of evolution are occupying too much space in the media, especially in the United States, where nominated Republican candidates for the next presidential elections are regularly competing who will more effectively end successfully challenge the thesis that man has evolved from apes.

Therefore, this scientist concluded that children have to get lessons regarding basic principles of evolution already during kindergarten. And especially in the first grade.

“No educated person believes the Adam and Eve myth nowadays, but it is surprising how many parents think that it is somehow fun to pass on this falsehood (and others in the same vein) to their children. Evolution is a truly satisfying and complete explanation of existence, and I suspect that this is something a child can appreciate from an early age. But I would want to argue that the truth of evolution is more interesting and more poetic — even more fun — than this myth, or any of the hundreds of creation myths from around the world. And — perhaps surprisingly — evolution could be taught in such a way as to make it easier to understand than a myth. This is because myths leave the child’s questions unanswered, or they raise more questions than they appear to answer.” – said Dawkins

The book begins with a dedication to Dawkins’ father, John Dawkins, who died last year at the age of 95.

„I learned from my father that we need continual reconsideration, skepticism, search for evidence and understanding in order to comprehend what evidence is” – says Dawkins.

Dawkins has actually inherited faith from his father. Although he claims that he had already, at the age of nine, started questioning the existence of God, he says that he was persuaded into it, and that is why he, at that age, wholeheartedly accepted Christianity. However, in his teenage years he concluded that the theory of evolution is a much better explanation for the complexity of life and he ceased to believe in God.

From there, through education at Oxford and the first professorial job at Berkeley, to what his opponents call "militant atheism", it didn’t take long.

“Like computer viruses, successful mind viruses will tend to be hard for their victims to detect. If you are the victim of one, the chances are that you won't know it, and may even vigorously deny it. The patient typically finds himself impelled by some deep, inner conviction that something is true, or right, or virtuous: a conviction that doesn't seem to owe anything to evidence or reason, but which, nevertheless, he feels as totally compelling and convincing. We doctors refer to such a belief as ``faith.''” – Dawkins wrote in his famous essay “Viruses of the Mind”.

He is convinced that if there was no organized religion, the terrorist attacks from 11 September 2001 wouldn’t occurred. The critics say that when he publicly said that, he became dangerous opponent of religion. And not only Christian, but all the others.

“Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. – says Dawkins. “Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labeled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let's now stop being so damned respectful!”

His works are controversial – and the word “controversial” is even an understatement. A large number of Christians - especially educated ones – found it necessary to slap him in his face regarding how wrong he is. Oxford theologian Alister McGrath (author of The Dawkins Delusion and Dawkins' God) claims that Dawkins has no knowledge of Christian theology, and therefore, he can’t possibly intelligently reflect upon religion and faith.

Dawkins immediately fired back:

“Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in leprechauns?"

In 2007, Dawkins had, similarly to the associations of homosexuals who organize parades and insist that people should "get out of the closet" and admit they are gay, founded the "Out Campaign" to encourage as many people around the world as possible to publicly say that they are atheists. According to his opinion, this may well change the mindset of most people – and further, the mindset of Richard’s atheists – who will once again think about their faith.

The biggest "excursion to the mainstream," other than his written word, Dawkins had in 2008. Then, he was one of the first people who supported the first atheist initiative in UK, called the “Atheist Bus Campaign”.

Guardian journalist Ariane Sherine and her colleagues from the "British Humanist Association" decided to raise money in order to place atheist adverts on buses in the London area.

On January 2009, across Britain appeared buses with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

On one occasion he agreed to answer questions from readers of reputable newspaper "Independent". On that occasion, he spoke for the first time about children’s education from the perspective of religion.

Do you consider parents forcing children to accept their religion a form of child abuse?- asked  reader James Macdonald.

Dawkins answered:

“Yes. What would you think of parents who forced their children to accept their politics, or their taste in architecture? Have you ever heard anyone speak of a "Leninist child" or a "Postmodernist child"? Of course not. Why, then, do we all go along with "Christian child" and "Muslim child"? Such labeling of children with their parents' religion is child abuse.”

Dawkins has a solution and for adults:

“People who would laugh at the idea that a pumpkin could turn into a coach, and who know perfectly well that silk handkerchiefs don’t really turn into rabbits, are quite happy to believe that a prophet turned water into wine or, as devotees of another religion would have it, flew to heaven on a winged horse.”

“Without contraception, we will starve”

Besides God and gods, Dawkins is opposed to all those who do not want to think about family planning and control of world’s population. In his book “The Selfish Gene”, he gives the example of Latin America, where the population doubles every few decades. He didn’t of course miss the chance to mention Catholics because their church clearly opposes contraception.

“... leaders who forbid their followers to use effective contraceptive methods ... express a preference for "natural" methods of population limitation, and a natural method is exactly what they are going to get. It is called starvation.”

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Kiss – From cave to big screen.

Motherly, friendly, French, movie, Judas... People are kissing each other from the beginning of time. Here are some of the most interesting theories about how and why was kissing invented.

Sexologists say that a kiss is even more intimate then the act of sex itself, regardless the fact is that kiss is the most frequent physical contact among people. 99.9 percent of people on the planet know what kiss is, but very few know the real truth about the origin and meaning of the kiss.

Kiss is a powerful phenomenon, that’s for sure. If you think about it, you will come to the conclusion that kiss had an influence on the course of life of every man, it was the beginning and test of survival of every relationship, and it has significantly influenced the history of mankind. Film industry has recognized the power of kiss, but also and people from show business. You can still hear stories about how Madonna kissed Britney Spears at one of the MTV awards, right?


Even today, the phenomenon of kissing is not fully explained. We even have a branch of science that studies kissing and it’s called filematology.

No one is definitely sure why people started touching each other with lips and exchange saliva, but it is known that this kind of physical contact was present even in the period around 1,500 BC.

According to one theory, the kiss was created because of practical reasons – so that people can lick salt from each other’s cheeks. The Vedic scriptures describe the phenomenon of kissing as an act of affection. It is believed that the kiss has culturally spread from India via Greece, and that Alexander the Great is the most creditable for that, because he brought it to Europe during the great invasion in 326 BC. Besides spices and tea, the great commander had, allegedly, brought and something that was even hotter and spicier then the tea and spices together – the kiss, which conquered Europe with the speed of fire.

There are different opinions about the origin of the kiss. According to one legend it was invented by medieval knights who were trying to determine in this way if their wives had drunk the juicy mead. According to another theory, the kiss derived from the relationship between mother and child. Allegedly, cave mothers, who didn’t have blender like today’s mothers, were chewing the food and then, with their mouth, they were feeding their children.

Some cultures knew of kissing long before others, but they considered that act too private and didn’t discussed nor write about it for many years and centuries. Even Bible says that God kissed a man and gave him life through that kiss. 

Some cultures like Finnish, Burmese, Polynesian, Philippinian, or cultures of African tribes consider kissing as weird, absurd and rude. They have ways of greeting like nose rubbing or gasping at the throat. In this way, they can recognize each member of the tribe based on his smell.

Some even believe that kissing evolved as a way of spreading bacteria between partners. In this way they would become immune to each other’s diseases, and were able to have kids. At the time of Ancient Rome, kissing was used as a way of showing status – that status was ranked according to permission to kiss a certain part of the body. Those who have enjoyed higher status were kissing each other on the cheek and arm, while ordinary mortals had permission to kiss feet.

In Chinese tradition, it is considered that the ideal balance between yin and yang can be achieved only by exchanging "liquid jade", better known as saliva, or, in romantic terms – with a French kiss.

In Naples, in 1562, kissing in public was forbidden, and those who were caught in that act were condemned to death.

In Hartford, Connecticut, the old law, which is still in force, considers it illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sundays. And in Indiana, until recently, there was a law that strictly forbidden men with mustaches to kiss women - probably for reasons of hygiene.

English word “kiss” originates from Germanic word “kussian”, which onomatopoetically imitates what happens during kiss. What is considered as a French kiss in western world, in India is called English kiss.

Name „movie kiss“ says by itself that a kiss had a significant role in the film industry. In 2005, a movie called “Brokeback Mountain” attracted much attention because of description of sexual relation between men, but the first kiss of two men was shown much earlier – some eighty years before, in a movie “Wings” from 1927. However, the first homosexual kiss was shown even before that – in a movie “Manslaughter” from 1922, where two lesbians were kissing each other.

For a long time, the longest kiss in film history was the one between Jane Wyman and Regis Toomey – it lasted three minutes and five seconds. However, in 2010, that record was broken by Neckar Zadegan and Traci Dinwiddie with a longest movie kiss, and also the longest lesbian kiss in a movie.

In the movie “Some Like It Hot” from 1959, actor Tony Curtis, who plays Joe or Josephine after he disguises himself as female band member, shocked the public when he said that his kiss with Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) was like "kissing with Hitler." He later gave an explanation for his statement and said that such a stupid question (How did he like kissing a sex symbol like Marilyn) deserved an equally stupid answer. “What was I supposed to say? What do you think it’s like to kiss Marilyn Monroe you dickheads?” – Curtis said.

In 1929, Greta Garbo appeared in MGM’s last silent film called “Kiss”. It was the end of silent film era, but not the era of kisses.

In 1984, Rock Hudson kissed Linda Evans in “Dynasty”. And when it was reveled that he had AIDS, Hollywood was swept with panic that she was infected too. The actress revealed later that the people around her didn’t want to come near her because they had kids and they didn’t want to expose themselves to risk.

In Indian cinema, kiss was forbidden for a long time. The first real kiss with open mouth and a tongue was shown in Indian cinemas through a little-known English film from 1926.

Around the world, there are some pretty interesting but also and vulgar names for a kiss. People on Maldives use a term, which, when translated, means “lip sucking”, and the kiss in South Africa is called “tongue in lungs”.

Interestingly, the kissing was unknown to many people. Indians and Aborigines didn’t kiss before meeting Europeans. After that, they introduced that custom.

Also, one of the biggest misapprehensions is that the French have invented the French kiss. They haven’t even gave it its name. The truth is that in 1923 this term was forged in England.  And the only reason this kiss has that “French” in its name is because the French, at the beginning of the 19th century were known as amorous persons.

Kissing is good for your health

Scientists have discovered that kissing has multiple positive effects on health because it increases the secretion of hormone of happiness.  Even bacteria, which are present in the saliva, with their mixing contribute to stronger immunity; they are breaking down plaque in the mouth and are destroying harmful microorganisms. Kissing is also good for dental health because it stimulates the secretion of saliva, which, on the other hand, has a function of washing the mouth and removing the remains of food.

Clinical tests have shown that touching, including kissing, reduces blood pressure, stress, and improves the immune status of the organism. Many believe that the activation of a large number of facial muscles during kissing is preventing the appearance of wrinkles and is slowing the aging process.

Kissing is pleasure

The lips are definitely made for kissing. They are the thinnest part of our body and 100 times more sensitive than our fingers. The tongue and the inside of the oral cavity contain enormous amount of nerves that are transmitting messages directly to the limbic system, the oldest part of the brain associated with sexual pleasure. A kiss is stimulating the secretion of the hormone oxytocin, which affects parts of the brain responsible for pleasure and adrenalin, and thus creating the feeling of butterflies in our stomach.

Facts about kissing

-    Two thirds of men are leaning their heads to the right when they are kissing someone;
-    Most kisses are shown in the movie "Don Juan" from 1926 - 191 kiss in 110 minutes;
-    In 1990, Alfred Wolfram kissed a 8001 person in a period of eight hours at a festival in Minnesota – he kissed, on average, 16 persons per minute.
-    Men who are kissing their wives before going to work, on average, are earning more money than those who do not do that;
-    The only animals that are kissing each other’s mouth are chimpanzees, orangutans and cats;
-    In just one exchange of saliva during a kiss, there is more than 278 species of bacteria, and many of them can cause various diseases;
-    A passionate kiss can increase the level of hormones in your body so high, that it can take away one minute of your life;
-    During his life, a man is spending approximately 336 hours or two full weeks kissing someone.
-    One French kiss is activating 23 muscles;
-    Ten minutes of kissing is burning 30 calories;
-    70 percent of people experience their first kiss before they turn 15.

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Last-Name effect – An interesting theory.

Last-Name effect – everyone whose last name begins with some of the last letters of the alphabet were last at everything in school, and later, as adults, they are buying everything they can get their hands on because of fear that supplies will disappear. 

According to the new study, people whose last name begins with the last letter of the alphabet (Z) are making the fastest decisions when it comes to shopping. What could explain this weird phenomenon, which the authors of this theory called “last-name effect”? Here is an interesting explanation.

American obsession with alphabetical order, especially in the education system, often places those whose last name begins with a letter “Z” at the end of the line, causing different kind of suffering in life of those persons. For example – they are always last in line at the canteen and the other kids are taking all the chocolate milk before them…also, in most cases, they are placed in the last rows in the classroom, so they have to put a great effort to get the attention of teachers. Later in life of those persons, as soon as they see a product that is discounted (or if someone offers them something to buy) they are immediately buying them because they have a fear that the supplies will disappear. In those moments, they finally have “chocolate milk” within their reach.

“For years, simply because of your name, you've received inequitable treatment. So when you get to exercise control, you seize on opportunity. It's a coping strategy, and over time it becomes a natural way to respond” – explains Kurt Carlson, an assistant professor at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and a co-author of the paper on this subject.

He and Jacqueline Conard, an assistant professor at the Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University, have uncovered the “last-name effect” through an experiment.

They selected a group of students and send them an e-mail, offering them free tickets to a basketball game.  Within that e-mail, they highlighted that the offer is limited. The average response time of people whose last names begins with some of the last nine letters of the alphabet (from R to Z) was 19.38 minutes. Those whose last name begins with some of the first nine letters of the alphabet had an average response time of 20.08 minutes, which is a statistically significant difference.

These results drove “Time” journalist Sean Gregory to verify this theory. He took the list of workers and found Paul Zelinski, a production director for “Time” and “Sports Illustrated” for kids. Zelinski told him that he spent many days in the back of the class as a student in Brooklyn Catholic schools.

“In grammar school, I didn't mind, because there was this girl next to me who was cute. But in high school, it stunk. I couldn't see over the taller guys in front of me” – said Zelinski.

He claims that “last-name effect” makes sense. For example, he is always looking to make a quick agreement on a deal, and he recently bought a car over the internet for a good price. However, he is still afraid that he will be on the fringe. When he goes to watch a game, he often arrives two hours earlier, just to grab the best seat and have a good view of a game.

“I don't know if that has to do with being Zelinski or being Polish. I might have to go into therapy to find out.” – Zelinski said.

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The Era of Terminators – In 2045, computers will rule humans!

In two decades, scientists will create a replacement for the vital organs, which will extend the life of humans to immortality. By 2045, artificial intelligence will do things that are unimaginable to human brain.

Everything became clear in 1996, when the world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost a match against "Deep Blue", a computer developed by IBM. In a thrilling finale, while it was one to one in wins and three draws, Kasparov made a mistake in the opening, and symbolically, in the name of humanity, lay down his arms before the superior enemy.

Chess analysts claimed that human is the favorite against the computer, because even though machine calculates combinations a hundred million times faster than human, humans are dominant in terms of strategy and intuition. And that, of course, applies not only to chess.

A man made the machine to make his life easier, but the question is just how long a man will be able to control the machine that is many times more powerful and more capable than he is. In undeveloped countries, where cell phones are still a luxury and the peak of technological progress is  a very strong bulb which makes it easier for workers to see when they are working, there is still no such threat. But scientist in Western Countries are already trying to predict when will the time come when computers will rule humans.

It is already difficult to imagine some thing from our life for which there still isn’t a machine that is doing it much easier and more efficiently. It is even possible to make love through the machine, but what is more startling in terms of future is the fact that computers are creating computers. Machines, therefore, are already becoming a civilization for themselves. The question is, will the machines, with the development of artificial intelligence, become able to make decisions like humans and start to multiply out of our control like in the scenario of the science-fiction movie “The Terminator". There are less and less of those who have doubts that the time of Terminators will indeed come, and the question that dominates now is when this will happen. 

Raymond Kurzweil, one of the world’s most renowned inventors and futurists, a man who had, for the last thirty years,  the most accurate predictions of technological advances, stunned the world and determined that year – 2045. This is the year when the so-called singularity will happen, which is a term coined by American scientists and stands for the moment when technological progress will break through all boundaries and when the machines will create a world that the human brain cannot even imagine. Scientifically, singularity is the era in which the intelligence will become "non-biological” and trillions of times more powerful than it is today. Singularity will create a civilization which is out of our biological capabilities, and which surpasses human creativity.

Bill Gates apparently also believes that this is not solely science fiction theory. He termed Raymond Kurzweil, one of the main proponents of this theory, as the most competent person when it comes to predicting the future of artificial intelligence. And Kurzweil claims that computers will develop artificial intelligence equal to humans in 20 years, and according to his predictions, by 2045 the amount of artificial intelligence will be billions of times greater than the total human biological intelligence on our planet.

Many computer experts agree that it is not a question whether the computers will rule the world but when will it happen, because technology is developing so rapidly that even now the power of computers doubles every year and a half.

The holder of artificial intelligence is a computer that has hardware and software. We have a similar thing in humans. Our body is the hardware, which is, conditionally speaking, empty, but had been sufficiently prepared to receive the basic informations. In a similar way, empty computer knows in the beginning how to open the CD door, how to power the cooler, and many other things. Those things work like human lungs, kidneys, heart… So, the computer is initially empty, but there are built-in sensors thanks to whom he can learn.

That this is a serious problem shows and the fact that in America a lot of people are already researching the problem of singularity.  Kurzweil  is one of the founders of Singularity University, which was established at NASA, and sponsored by Google. There is even Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence in San Francisco, where Peter Thiel works, former director of PayPal and one of the" early investors” in Facebook. So, this story also includes and the rulers of modern IT world.

We can only assume what kind of capabilities the computers will have in the coming decades. The problem with software programs is that they are already showing signs of unpredictability. The software programs are becoming unpredictable in the same way the human brain can be unpredictable. If you are a programmer then you have a better insight in this problem. If you create a program, abandon him and start working on him after some time, you can’t be sure what will happen if you change some line of code. Unfortunately, no one can claim that he is fully controlling the software system, that is, that he knows exactly what will the computer do at any time.

If the moment comes when a man will cease to be the creative element and when his function are given to the computers, then we can say that the end of humankind as we know it is certain. When computers start to think creatively, a man will lose all his function. We are already teaching computers to discern, to think. We ask them questions on which they are responding - "If something is like this, then this is the case”. Such questions are present more and more, and the computer, based on acquired knowledge, is beginning to discern what is best for him. That is already a phase in the development of an independent being. Today, computer is a defective being that lacks many things, but in time, he will certainly begin to learn because he already has cameras and import mechanisms, he is present on the internet, and it is only a matter of time when he will start to function independently. Computer is already helping humans to make a new computer. It is easy to create a 10 times better computer with the help of earlier generation of them. But what will happen when these 10 times better computers start to create even better ones?

We are already teaching computers to have a self-preservation instinct. However, with the development of software and networks, it is just a matter of time when a man will become a reckless excess for them. Besides that, it is clear that even among programmers there are those who are transferring their own destructiveness on a computer program. It is hard to predict how will such program develop itself and behave in the future. People are already fighting wars with computers, and that makes us fear that, maybe, we will eventually have war between them and us.

Additional problem is that today's generation of children is increasingly replacing their real world with virtual world, and they are beginning to think with the brain of computer. The computers, in a way, are already ruling humans because they are organizing our life. They are organizing human work, and even leisure. People are becoming slaves of the Internet and are showing real signs of addiction. Can you just imagine what happens to a man when his data from the computer is erased?  He begins to panic; he doesn’t know what to do. So, it isn’t a question whether do computers will rule, but more important, how will we adapt to them. They are already, in a way, our masters. We can actually see that in the latest generations of our children, which, by the age of 3 or 4, already know how to operate with these gadgets. Everything is beginning to adapt to the computers, ranging from advertising on television, to new social networks that have completely absorbed us. In the last ten years, we have all used internet because it allows us to contact others in every part of the world in a matter of seconds, which is really amazing. Those who will have informations ,will rule the world. And the computes are in huge advantage over us. Computers have long ago entered into all spheres of social life, and it is difficult to predict what consequences will that produce in the future. The strength of individual social networks is quite incredible. Today, we can freely say that the three largest countries in the world are China, India and Facebook.

Human civilization is developing in such direction that it is a question of day when we will be surrounded with super-intelligent cyborgs. There is also a possibility that our biological intelligence will be able to "attach" itself to the artificial, which will allow us to extend our life with software, perhaps even to the limits of immortality.

With the development of artificial intelligence, the futurist are mostly dealing with the question of life extension. Kurzweil predicts that in 20 years, people will be able to become immortal. He claims that with the speed the science is developing, especially with the development of nanotechnology, the scientist may create the majority of vital organs in two decades. He illustrates that with the fact that we have already created the artificial pancreas and various nerve implant that are built into the damaged parts of the brain. His theory is also suggesting that nanobots, or microscopic robots, will be able to replace our blood cells.

"Ultimately, nanobots will replace blood cells and do their work thousands of times more effectively. Within 25 years we will be able to do an Olympic sprint for 15 minutes without taking a breath, or go scuba-diving for four hours without oxygen. Heart-attack victims – who haven't taken advantage of widely available bionic hearts – will calmly drive to the doctors for a minor operation as their blood bots keep them alive. Nanotechnology will extend our mental capacities to such an extent we will be able to write books within minutes. If we want to go into virtual-reality mode, nanobots will shut down brain signals and take us wherever we want to go” - says Kurzweil.

It could be possible that people, who think like this, just watched too much "Star Wars" when they were little. On the other hand, statistics say that there are already some 30,000 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease with neurological implants. Experiments with robots that drive cars are nearly done, and in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq additional 2000 robots fought along with soldiers.

The biggest problem is that there is only one way for human species to predict how far the artificial intelligence of computers will develop - to be smarter than them.

Raymond Kurzweil – The body of Woody Allen, the head of the Terminator

Raymond Kurzweil, the scientist who claims that in 2045 the artificial intelligence will rule humans, is one of the world's greatest inventors. He has 39 internationally recognized patents and 19 honorary doctoral titles. He invented the first text-to-speech machine that allows blind people to understand written text and his first customer was Stevie Wonder. Ten years ago, the former U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded him with the National Medal of Technology. He is the author of several books on artificial intelligence. American TIME magazine once wrote that in real life he is nonchalant figure who could pass as a younger brother of geeky Woody Allen.

Computer binary code is a "little child" in comparison to human cell

In the scientific world, there are and those who give grains of optimism for humanity. It is believed that there are things and processes in the human organism that computers will never be able to copy. Biologist Dennis Bray appeared last year at the Singularity Summit, and argued what cells can do that robots can’t. 


“Living cells are crammed full of molecules-especially proteins but also RNA molecules- that act as biochemical switches. Most are allosteric and modifiable- formally equivalent to transistors- and linked into extensive networks through diffusion limited binding events and biochemical reactions. Computational molecules perform tasks such as amplification, feedback inhibition, oscillation, coincidence detection, and memory storage. But although biological components act in ways that are comparable to those in electronic circuits, they are set apart by the huge number of different states they can adopt. Multiple biochemical processes create chemical modifications of protein molecules, further diversified by association with distinct structures at defined locations of a cell. The resulting combinatorial explosion of states endows living systems with an almost infinite capacity to store information regarding past and present conditions and a unique capacity to prepare for future events.”

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