Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!linac!unixhub!stanford.edu!ptolemy-ri!pluto.arc.nasa.gov!kpc From: kpc@pluto.arc.nasa.gov (kpc) Newsgroups: sci.bio Subject: Re: biomass as a measure of "success" Message-ID: Date: 22 Jun 91 06:18:37 GMT References: <1053@mixcom.COM> Sender: usenet@ptolemy-ri.arc.nasa.gov Organization: Sterling at NASA Ames Research Center Artificial Intelligence applications Lines: 55 In-reply-to: mmvvmm@mixcom.COM's message of 21 Jun 91 19:50:39 GMT i don't know for certain about this, and probably you had something in mind, but the first thing that made an impression on me when reading your article was: when you want to measure something, you should have a clear idea of what sort of thing it is that you want to measure. if you have a clear idea, then you probably have a better idea of how to measure it, don't you think? maybe you do have a clear idea, but i'm not sure what you mean by success... if you are trying to define it by finding a measurement, then are you really saying that you would like to find a measurement that has predictive value in approximating our subjective notions of success, is feasible, and is somehow useful as a result? i'm wondering what you mean by success, or, in lieu of a clear meaning for it, what you mean by your question. here are some ideas just for fun. i don't know if any of them will be useful at all, but i'm interested in comments... number of genes expressed. bacteria are successful! amount of information contained in all genes together, or average amount of information expressed. use only encoding genes. humans are successful! i like this one, and have an interest in finding out its implications. is it possible? who else is interested in this? who is studying it, i wonder? what assumptions are made? diversity within species. then again, how do you define a species? longevity of species. then again, there is that coelacanth thread... longevity of individuals. tortoises! average happiness :-). non-stereotyped use of tools. humans! height in the food chain. this has relevance to entropy, which you hinted at. humans and lions! i don't know what the ideas about biomass are all about. now, probably there is a whole established intricate theory of biomass that your article is about and i've stumbled into the thread clumsily... :-) in any case, as i am a newcomer to biology, i welcome comments. of course, i would welcome comments if i weren't a newcomer to biology, also. -- Tweety is a bird. Socrates is a man. John loves Mary. Mary is tall.