Each call says something about the deepest molecular biology of the animal, as well as how and with what on the earth the organism has interacted throughout its individual life. From the textures and fibres in the birds' throats to the colour of their plumage, from their food preferences to their mating rituals, from their hunting and social interaction to their experiences of loss, each call somehow encapsulates those realities and all unnamed others which is that bird. If only this kind of information were not highly coupled and so multidimensional, we might be able to tease out more of these life experiences from the individual bird. Yet, it remains nearly impossible, like so much in life, to resolve such issues, if only at a probability, thus shrouding the whole reality in the mystery. Thus, our power is left dry and our desire to know is essentially stifled by a beautiful bird. We can only know in part.
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ReplyDelete"Each call says something about the deepest molecular biology of the animal, as well as how and with what on the earth the organism has interacted throughout its individual life."
The relationship between the molecular biology, M(x) of the individual bird, which is coupled to its environment with certain weighting, and its call C(x) can be functional:
M(x)=f(C(x)) or C(x)=g(M(x))
The function is based on the nested levels of molecular and intermolecular arrangements, not to mention molecular clusters, each of which affects the other.
Really, M(x) is a function of the entire particular and evolutionary history of that species and also the environments it inhabits. It is possible that M(x) itself is too difficult to describe. Likewise with C(x).
Now, to ask what f() is that operates on C(x) to give M(x) is absolutely difficult to model, except by a neural network on the datum of the human senses and some unique moecular biology on that particular animal. If species biology is the entry point, the individual bird is relatively easy to identify. If anatomy is the entry point, it is a more difficult task. If molecular biology is the entry point, it may be too difficult.
M(x) and C(x) are difficult. Interpreting the meaning of f() is considerably more difficult.