MadSci Network: General Biology
Query:

Subject: Will identical clones, given the same set of experiences, behave the same?

Date: Fri Jun 23 02:45:11 2006
Posted by Lars
Grade level: undergrad School: No school entered.
City: No city entered. State/Province: No state entered. Country: No country entered.
Area of science: General Biology
ID: 1151055911.Gb
Message:

I'll use a computer analogy to clarify. Suppose you have two computers with the
same identical hardware. If you try to run the exact same set of software on
them, they should behave identically (that is, the way they process information
is identical). On the other hand, two different computers (say a Mac and a PC)
will not handle the same software identically, even though they may have the
same amount of memory, processing speed etc., simply because their hardware
cannot, by the way it is structured and organized, perform the exact same
processes. I imagine that genetically identical creatures, if the entire set of
their experiences were identical, would also behave identically. Likewise, I
would think that if they each had been given a different set of experiences,
that they would still process those experiences in the same way (that is to say,
that the MOST BASIC set of processes that occur (at least those that are NOT
shaped by experience) to convert sensory stimulation into thoughts and ideas,
would be similar in the same way among genetically-identical creatures that
would set them apart from genetically-different creatures of the same
intelligence. In the words of the computer analogy, two identical computers,
running completely different programs would still be distinguishable, in the
most basic processes involved in running those programs that would set them
apart from two nonidentical computers of the same processing power. Is this true?


Re: Will identical clones, given the same set of experiences, behave the same?

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