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Full Idea
When the observer shifts his attention from one level of organisation to the next, as from physics to chemistry, he expects to find obedience to all the laws of the levels below.
Gist of Idea
If observation goes up a level, we expect the laws of the lower level to remain in force
Source
Edmund O. Wilson (On Human Nature [1978], Ch.1)
Book Ref
Wilson,Edward O.: 'On Human Nature' [Penguin 1995], p.11
A Reaction
This seems to state a necessary condition of reduction, but not a sufficient one. Wilson points out that new phenomena emerge at higher levels. This principle is similar to Hume's argument against miracles. You don't easily overthrow basic laws.
| 5309 | Beliefs are really enabling mechanisms for survival [Wilson,EO] |
| 5310 | Philosophers study the consequences of ethics instead of its origins [Wilson,EO] |
| 5308 | The only human purpose is that created by our genetic history [Wilson,EO] |
| 5311 | If observation goes up a level, we expect the laws of the lower level to remain in force [Wilson,EO] |
| 5312 | A child first sees objects as distinct, and later as members of groups [Wilson,EO] |
| 5313 | The rules of human decision-making converge and overlap in a 'human nature' [Wilson,EO] |
| 5314 | Cultural evolution is Lamarckian and fast, biological evolution is Darwinian and slow [Wilson,EO] |
| 5315 | Over 99 percent of human evolution has been in the hunter-gatherer phase [Wilson,EO] |
| 5316 | We undermine altruism by rewarding it, but we reward it to encourage it [Wilson,EO] |
| 5318 | Pure hard-core altruism based on kin selection is the enemy of civilisation [Wilson,EO] |
| 5317 | The actor is most convincing who believes that his performance is real [Wilson,EO] |
| 5320 | It is estimated that mankind has produced 100,000 religions [Wilson,EO] |