

Prometheus: 2000 year old programming code - zeynel
http://science1.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/prometheus-a-2000-year-old-programming-code/

======
zeynel
#Skimming the article, it is sounding a #little bit like "intelligent design",
#when it talks of "programming" humans.

Well, I am really disappointed that the article sounds like "intelligent
design." That may be due to my inarticulateness. I have no intention of
advocating "intelligent design."

I am just curious to know if there is an academic or scholarly field where
people study programming outside of computers, more specifically, programming
humans.

#In a sense, natural selection programs all #organisms by allowing only the
fit variations #in a given generation to survive, promulgating #the "fit
genes" forward, but "design" or "program" #are terms in this context to be
used metaphorically.

But it seems to me that "natural selection" is a term that needs to be used
metaphorically as well.

In the article, the Prometheus story is not metaphorical. It is a real story
written by a real person. I am trying to understand if humans reading the
Prometheus story can be considred to be programmed in analogy to computer
programming.

So when I read a Sunday paper supplement about discounted items and I go buy
one, am I being programmed? What is the scholarly field that studies such
programming?

------
zeynel
I just posted this to ask people here if it makes sense to talk about
programming anything other than computers and if not what kind of science
investigates this subjects. Thanks.

------
Allocator2008
Skimming the article, it is sounding a little bit like "intelligent design",
when it talks of "programming" humans.

In a sense, natural selection programs all organisms by allowing only the fit
variations in a given generation to survive, promulgating the "fit genes"
forward, but "design" or "program" are terms in this context to be used
metaphorically. Natural Selection is itself an alogirthm: Variation +
Selection + Inheritance = Evolution of new forms of life. So in this sense it
is a "program" but only as a metaphor.

I have neither the time nor the patience to argue with an intelligent design
advocate, anymore than I would spend time arguing with a flat earth advocate.

