We imagine that animals do courageous things because of natural selection. But natural selection can only select from what has been put forward by random variation. So how does a new kind of behavior arise? If it's via random variation, then no law-like answer can be given regarding the origin of the genotype. But we can relate different aspects of the phenotype to each other. That is, the new behavior has to be related to appetite and cognition. Otherwise, animals might as well be zombie-like behavior machines. Assuming they are not zombies, mutation must result in a new cognition regarding the desirability or (more precisely) the usefulness of the behavior.
But inasuch as non human perception is like that of humans, the perceptions underlying courageous behavior and other irascible-appetite-related behavior is a complex judgment. Amazing to imagine that a mutation would give rise to THAT! (ain't doubting it--just amazed)
But inasuch as non human perception is like that of humans, the perceptions underlying courageous behavior and other irascible-appetite-related behavior is a complex judgment. Amazing to imagine that a mutation would give rise to THAT! (ain't doubting it--just amazed)
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