Skyhooks
Skyhooks
The metaphor of skyhooks, typically used pejoratively, is a label for explanations that appeal to powers transcending nature, a supernatural beyond the secular order. The idea is similar to deus ex machina interventions in ancient Greek plays, where a god was brought in from above by stage machinery to resolve a complicated plot, often unconvincingly. In his 1995 book, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Daniel C. Dennett argues that Darwin replaced "skyhooks" with "cranes," mechanistic forces building up over evolutionary history, not mind-like designing, which is only a resulting appearance. However, with genetics, a cybernetic model of DNA that encodes an evolutionary increase of information suggests a more cognitive account, indifferent to whether the novel information appears from above or below. The fundamental issue is whether naturalistic explanations are complete. This especially the case for those explanations featuring the emergence or superposition of genetic complexity with escalating cognitive powers, eventuating in human minds.
See also Evolution; Genetic Determinism
Bibliography
dennett, daniel c. "the tools for r and d: skyhooks or cranes?" in darwin's dangerous idea: evolution and the meanings of life. new york: touchstone, 1995.
holmes rolston, iii
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