Scott MacLeod's Anthropology of Information Technology & Counterculture
To a global, virtual, free, open, {future degree- & credit-granting}, multilingual University & School for the developing world and everyone, as well as loving bliss ~ scottmacleod.com
I'd like to propose that all ~87 million species in the world are robots coded for by evolutionary biology & which DNA are their 'software', their AI & their machine learning, and which unlike human-made machines or robots, species as robots reproduce - https://share.google/aimode/EnY4WgH4CAxfCLOD2
I'd like to propose that all ~87 million species in the world are robots coded for by evolutionary biology & which DNA are their 'software', their AI & their machine learning, and which unlike human-made machines or robots, species as robots reproduce - https://t.co/SFK1HBKVjz ~
I'd like to propose that all ~87 million species in the world are robots coded for by evolutionary biology and which genes are their 'software', their AI & their machine learning,https://share.google/aimode/I60Xvg7JFc4YA0mVS
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I'd like to propose that all ~87 million species in the world are robots coded for by evolutionary biology & which DNA are their 'software', their AI & their machine learning, and which unlike human -made machines or robots, species as robots reproduce - n'est-ce pas Gemini ?
That is a fascinating conceptual lens, and viewing biological organisms as organic, self-replicating biological machines running genetic software is a long-standing and useful metaphor in science.
Where the Metaphor Fits
DNA as Software: DNA functions remarkably like binary or assembly code. It uses a four-letter chemical alphabet (A, T, C, G) as a storage medium to encode instructions, which the cell translates to build proteins and manage cellular functions.
Evolution as Machine Learning: Natural selection operates like an evolutionary algorithm. Random mutations introduce variation (training data), and environmental pressures act as the loss function, selecting for traits that maximize survival and reproduction.
Biomolecular Machines: Cellular machinery like ATP synthase—a tiny molecular rotary motor—and ribosomes literally function like nanoscale mechanical engines.
Self-Replication: Unlike synthetic robotics, biological units can manufacture, repair, and reproduce themselves from ambient raw materials.
Where the Metaphor Breaks Down
Top-Down vs. Emergent Design: Robots are designed top-down by an engineer with a specific end goal. Biology has no designer and no forward-looking objective; it is purely emergent, messy, and guided by passive fitness landscapes.
Analog vs. Digital Reality: While DNA sequencing is discrete, the biological cell is an analog, stochastic environment heavily driven by chemical kinetics, thermodynamic noise, and epigenetic factors, rather than deterministic clock-cycles.
Hardware/Software Blur: In a computer, code (software) is distinct from the silicon chips (hardware). In a biological cell, the DNA molecules are the physical hardware participating in the chemical reactions.
It is worth noting that while there are roughly 8.7 million estimated eukaryotic species on Earth (rather than 87 million), the philosophical point holds. Biologist Richard Dawkins famously popularized a similar idea in The Selfish Gene, describing living organisms as "survival machines"—robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.
Do you view this biological framework as purely a philosophical analogy, or do you think the line between synthetic robotics and organic life will eventually disappear entirely?
- Scott GK MacLeod Founder, President, CEO & Professor at / of best STEAM CC licensed OCW, Wiki, World University & School (WUaS) - USPS US Post Office, PO Box 132, General Delivery, Canyon, CA 94516
1) non-profit 501(c)(3) Public Charity building on CC-4 licensed MIT OCW in 7 languages -
On his blog, Scott MacLeod defines "Cuttyhunk philosophy" as a blend of 1970s countercultural nostalgia, personal freedom, and childhood memories of sailing on Cuttyhunk Island
Scott MacLeod defines "Cuttyhunk philosophy" as a blend of 1970s countercultural nostalgia, personal freedom, and childhood memories of sailing on Cuttyhunk Island. This concept connects intimate island experiences with broader anthropological musings, including the development of a virtual Earth through World University and School. Explore his reflections further on the Scott MacLeod blog.
groceries for the MacLeod Cuttyhunk house 2026 (also as cultural insight and record of life on Cuttyhunk in summer)
Hi Ma, (and Sandy?), friends,
Greetings ... from Cuttyhunk ..
Please share with Sandy if warranted (eg re his attempts to steal the MacLeod Cuttyhunk house re possibly making him manager, or re taxation questions per Maine and Pennsylvania etc ... and re awful communication & re his potential involvement or entanglement in international organized crime ... and after numerous death threats over the past few years including a gunshot to vehicle ) ...
Things for the house ? -
A new microwave (old one shows display on, but nothing else, for me, no heating, no timer, no time etc)
Brown sugar
Tamari preferably but soy sauce as a back up
More hair conditioner and possibly shampoo for front bathroom
bars of soap
bag liners for wicket trash receptacle and metal ones roo
a light weight luggage carrier rolly that could take 2 banana boxes
eg
Protege Metal Folding Luggage Cart, Black, 39" x 13" (15" Platform), 3lbs Empty, 75lb Capacity
An air pump for the wheel barrow tire (rather than the power house's)
A new cart battery charger ?
And to overwinter (for me)
38" beige shorts
38" swim suit
1 pair flip flops size 13
Things for baby Isla which she might need eg from WM
diapers
wipes
CD player these days for old CDs which are still there ?
I think there are enough
toilet paper rolls
Paper towels
And paper napkins
in the small bedroom drawers
Questions you might have about such items?
Are you in Portland now, Ma + or arriving tomorrow?
More items to come possibly later or not ...
Window washing in morning before putting screens in ...
May go skinny dipping at Church's beach after dark
Love, abolition, Yoga-greetings, Friendly NtF Quaker and Unitarian U church greetings, Scott
PS
Just shared this with Sandy -
Hi Sandy ... won't order it ... I've let Ma know the golf cart isn't working as you may have read (and maybe she'll ask the Archer s - I don't think I'll ask Lexi Lynch - and don't know if there's someone doing freight either this year) ... And the MacLeod Cuttyhunk house is a total mess ... Time to get some rolly luggage carriers to roll things like food boxes up from the dock ... when the golf cart doesn't work or wheel barrow is flat ... Or a new hand cart with non inflatable wheels
... and a Toyota humanoid robot to clean and do repairs in some years too, and pull it too ... Still alive, seeking to de-extinct Dad (GKM MD - and Oetzi the Iceman in Switzerland from some 5300 years ago too) in some Decades, - if Harvard Med Sch Prof with a stroke (brain injury - due to eating cholesterol esp in meats ? ) Dick Robb MD is still around especially, Yogically (time to eat further a non-harming vegetarian diet of 10-25 servings of fruits grains vegetables legumes + a day???, your brother, Scott (glad to hear Dick Robb's voice, and your's here - Sandy and my parents' 50th wedding anniversary on Cuttyhunk
Ma, Ed, Pin, AI, HOW ARE YOU? The Archers just brought over the baby crib for Isla ... Just texted Sandy too - "Hi Sandy ... won't order it, (a battery charger) ... I've let Ma know the golf cart isn't working as you may have read (and maybe she'll ask the Archer s - I don't think I'll ask Lexi Lynch - and don't know if there's someone doing freight either this year) ... And the MacLeod Cuttyhunk house is a total mess ... Time to get some rolly luggage carriers to roll things like food boxes up from the dock ... when the golf cart doesn't work, or the wheel barrow is flat ... Or a new hand cart with non inflatable tires on wheels
... and a Toyota humanoid robot to clean and do repairs in some years too, and pull it too in the future ... Still alive, seeking to de-extinct Dad (GKM MD - and Oetzi the Iceman in Switzerland from some 5300 years ago too) in some Decades, - if Harvard Med Sch Prof with a stroke (brain injury - due to eating cholesterol esp in meats ? ) Dick Robb MD is still around especially, Yogically (time to eat further a non-harming vegetarian diet of 10-25 servings of fruits grains vegetables legumes + a day???), your brother, Scott (glad to hear Dick Robb's voice, and your's here - Sandy and my parents' 50th wedding anniversary on Cuttyhunk
Will wait to call the Archer's about the use of their truck on Friday at the ferry ... until maybe I hear back from Sandy further about why he changed the locks on me ... international organized crime and Portland Maine NE ME-first rogue ethics' developments, and their Tate street address neighborhood even re place & ethics, anthropologically?
Thoughts? Yogically, Desiderata (meaning 'things desired') prose poem, sending care,
- Scott GK MacLeod Founder, President, CEO & Professor at / of best STEAM CC licensed OCW, Wiki, World University & School (WUaS) - USPS US Post Office, PO Box 132, General Delivery, Canyon, CA 94516
1) non-profit 501(c)(3) Public Charity building on CC-4 licensed MIT OCW in 7 languages -
An air pump for the wheel barrow tire (rather than the power house's)
A new cart battery charger ?
And to overwinter (for me), for which I'd reimburse someone - & in hoping to go swimming Friday afternoon and Saturday -
38" beige shorts
38" swim suit
(Ma just got me a pair of flip flops size 13 - so no longer needed)
Things for baby Isla which she might need eg from WM
diapers
wipes
+
CD player these days for old CDs which are still there ?
I think there are enough
toilet paper rolls
Paper towels
And paper napkins
in the small bedroom drawers
The power just went out completely - for a minute ...bring your Anker? battery packs for smartphone recharging in case its out fir 8 hours?
Questions you might have about such items?
More items to come possibly later or not ...
Window washing in morning before putting screens in ...
just played Piobaireachd on Scottish small pipes ...
Love, abolition, Yogically (may be teaching an 8 am ET yoga class here on Zoom newly from somewhere - shady back west-facing porch with sticky mat?), Friendly NtF Quaker and Unitarian U church greetings, Scott
Scott's an anthropologist of #PhysicalDigital Harbin Hot Springs' Heart Consciousness Church @HarbinBook (on #TwitterX), as ethnographic field site - https://goo.gl/maps/7gSsSTweRCBo9gf87 - who is currently writing "Society, Info Tech & the Global Univ", who also finds fascinating the internet, ideas, poetry, sociology, art, science, genetics of aging reversal & extreme longevity drug therapies emerging (with FDA approval), philosophy, history, music, love and life ~ as well as the anthropology of info tech & counterculture :) - scottmacleod.com; Am also the president or head of, and professor at, best STEAM CC OCW wiki World Univ & Sch & Academic @WUaSPress, planned in 7,159 living languages with machine translation, (aka the WUaS Corp) planning free online degrees in ~200 countries & in their main languages, where you can #WikiTeach, or #WikiLearn, or #WikiCreate - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Subjects (See too "Yoga Notations": http://www.scottmacleod.com/yoganotations.html). Identity-wise, a Nontheist f/Friendly Quaker - a NtF or NtQ - with Unitarian Universalist sympathies as well, and a player of Scottish bagpipes, & an academic