NATS 1760 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Norbert Wiener, Richard Lewontin, Knockout Mouse
28 Nov 2013
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In 1960 it was discovered that dna was a sequence of bases permitted the idea of it being a code. Biology looks up to computer science for its ability to easy explain/produce/code information. Also, with rise of computing computers get smaller, notion of information society. but informatic metaphor leaves out the physicality of dna. Norbert wiener price of metaphor is eternal vigilance (metaphors simplify but leave important stuff out) Barnes & dupres unavoidable if you want to coordinate groups of people (price is worth it, to specialize one must leave stuff out) There s a complaint that master molecule metaphor omits stuff. Dna may be that master molecule but it does not itself form the proteins. Richard lewontin cites wiener dna the paper in photocopier. Barnes and dupre dnas like plutonium in a nuclear weapon dna necessary but not sufficient for biological processes but still necessary. The need is to get non- specialists to understand.
