HistBio — 02. The Strength and Weakness of the Historical Approach

Why is a course dedicated to the historical development of biosystems taught to biology master's students? The reason is that truly understanding the "simple" things we observe characterizes mature cognition. Alas, most often we focus on studying secondary matters, ignoring the truly important questions. [IMG_1] Understanding any phenomenon is impossible without studying its history. [IMG_2] The explanatory power of historical analysis is easiest to demonstrate with an example. The next slide shows Mariotte's drawing for demonstrating the existence of a blind spot in the eye. It was devised in the second half of the 17th century by the same Edme Mariotte whose name became part of Boyle's law (Boyle–Mariotte law). If you look at the cross with your right eye (closing the left) and move your head toward and away from the monitor, at some point the circle will disappear. The same happens if you look at the circle with your left eye. Mariotte even taught Louis XIV to look at two courtiers with one eye in such a way that it appeared as if one of the unfortunates had lost his head. The reason for the effect is that in each of our eyes there is a zone (the blind spot) where the optic nerve enters. The "hole" in the visual image perceived by each eye is filled in by the brain using information from the other eye. If a person looks with only one eye, the missing parts of the visual world are filled in by analogy with their surroundings. [IMG_3] The next few slides are shown on this page in reduced size. The author of this presentation had to describe this example in considerable detail twice: in a popular science article and in a column for the online magazine "Computerra" (based on a TED festival talk). Therefore, a more detailed account of the material summarized here can be found on the pages to which the links lead. [IMG_4][IMG_5][IMG_6][IMG_7][IMG_8][IMG_9] Note: it is impossible to explain the structure of the human eye without understanding its prehistory! That is precisely why the historical approach is so important for modern biology. [IMG_10] Historical analysis does not at all have to be confined to the history of the biosphere. In recent years, a new approach called Universal History has been developing intensively. Probably one of the first authors to have worked in this paradigm can be considered Teilhard de Chardin, who presented a holistic picture of evolution from the emergence of the Universe to the emergence of God. A vivid contemporary example of a researcher working in this paradigm is the well-known Russian scholar Akop Nazaretyan. [IMG_11] If we place biological evolution within the general process of evolution of the universe, the question of the limits of historical knowledge naturally arises. [IMG_12] This last question is, in fact, a question about the limits of scientific knowledge. Can the foundations of science be proven? Fierce debates on this subject continue to this day. The lecturer's point of view is presented and argued in a column for "Computerra," written immediately after the lecture was delivered (and before this presentation was posted online). These ideas can be read by following the link; here only three reduced slides used during the lecture are shown. [IMG_13][IMG_14][IMG_15] For example, most contemporary physical models proceed from the assumption that the Universe arose as a result of an event called (originally as a joke) the "Big Bang." It appeared approximately 13.7 billion years ago, and immediately after its birth it was very small. It then began to expand. The space inside the Universe is three-dimensional, but it is curved and bounded in the fourth dimension. A decent (and, given its small size and outstanding accessibility — simply superb) overview of the main cosmological ideas of our time is contained in a lecture delivered in Moscow in 2013 by the well-known American cosmologist Brian Greene. The question of whether the Universe existed before the Big Bang is a difficult one. As far as one can tell, even if it did exist, its past existence has no bearing on the current Universe. Time is an internal phenomenon of the Universe... [IMG_16] Although these are phenomena that are extremely difficult to visualize, they are fairly well studied. In effect, the historical approach "reaches" all the way back to the Big Bang, because we can assume that the cause-and-effect regularities we study today were also at work then. [IMG_17] The next slide illustrates a common metaphor for the expansion of the Universe. The expansion of a three-dimensional Universe in the fourth dimension can be likened to the expansion of the two-dimensional surface of a balloon in the third dimension (when the balloon is inflated). To an observer on the surface of the balloon, the surrounding world appears two-dimensional, but that world is closed in the third dimension. [IMG_18] Notice: galaxies are "attached" to the surface of the balloons. One might expect that as the balloons expand the galaxies would also grow in size, but this does not happen. Their sizes do not change, but the distance between them increases... How can such strange things be explained? It is extremely difficult. And, most likely, the explanation given by the African shaman from the film "Genesis" (after assimilating European wisdom) is, in general, far from the worst. Compare the scientific explanation with the mythological one — and you will see that the mythological one is considerably more comprehensible and natural. How convincingly, for example, does this pilgrim who found the edge of the world appear! [IMG_19] And here is God creating the world in a French fresco of the 13th century. Using a compass, he creates something that a modern viewer would confidently recognize as a fractal! [IMG_20] ...And this is how birds and sea creatures were created (Italy, 12th century). . [IMG_21] Can scientific facts refute the core religious dogmas? No. And to substantiate this, one can begin with a rather unexpected question. [IMG_22] The entire tradition of pictorial depiction of Adam testifies — there was a navel. How can this be reconciled with the established view that Adam had no mother and was not connected to anyone via a placenta? This question is discussed in relative detail in the column about Gosse's argument, while the argument that allows faith to be defended against any unwelcome facts is described more briefly by Borges. [IMG_23] An interesting use of this same argument appears in the film "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," in which it turns out that we live on a remade Earth, after the previous one was destroyed. However, none of us remembers the moment at which God set our life in motion, filled with imaginary memories. Does the modern scientific picture of the world seem incredible to us? Our perceptions, our common sense, were formed as a result of interaction with objects of the macroworld. The laws of the microworld and the megaworld seem completely unnatural to us. [IMG_24] One of the classical examples illustrating the paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics — the rules of existence of the microworld. [IMG_25] But all these incredible inventions work! [IMG_26] The attempt to understand how our cognition works brings to mind one of the stories of Baron Münchhausen (incidentally, this is a historical figure of the 18th century, whose tales were set down in literary form and presumably expanded by Rudolf Raspe while the baron was still alive, which greatly upset him). The Baron pulled himself out of a swamp by his own hair, together with his horse. [IMG_27] Thinking people are forced to do this regularly. [IMG_28] Cogitus interruptus (the title plays on the analogy with coitus interruptus — the interrupted sex act) is in general a basic operation in our drive to get to the root causes... It remains to ponder the answer to the question on the final slide (although this topic was discussed in the column already cited). [IMG_29] The temple of science has no foundation. However, when it comes to processes for which the nature of cause-and-effect relationships has been established, science demonstrates simply wondrous abilities in reconstructing the past and even predicting the future.