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Cladistics and particle physics are run over by IT
Digital technology (which I here call “DT”) opened the gate for the evolution of the so-called IT (infomation technology) by interfacing different kinds of “IT”. This statement means that DT translated different kinds of “information” into the same format, thereby opening the possibility of combining them. This opened the gate for the development of the World Wide Web by permitting a flow between different kinds of information platforms.
The next step in this evolution of IT is Geographical Information Systems (“GIS”), also called Geographical Information Technology (“GIT”), by also tying information to spatial locations. This step gives information intercompatibility not only formally, but also locally. Interestingly, this step is taken in conjunction with the development of Object Oriented Programming (OOP), which is a “natural companion” to GIS (or GIT).
In this neighborhood, cladistics and particle physics are merely ancient remains of an idea that there is a single truth. IT has actually surpassed this idea by practically handling it instead of discussing it. By this, it has turned the search for this idea into a question of whether NP equals P or not, a question which, although interesting, is, however, not crucial for the application of IT. It (ie, IT) has thus turned the question irrelevant.
Google is leading this development, but all of us will sooner or later join it, because it is advantageous. The question in the matter is thus not whether there is a single truth or not, but whether this question is advantageous or not. The question (ie, which of the different approaches that is advantageous) is thus given by the development and not vice versa (ie, that the development is given by the question). It is the victory of practice over theory.
Cladists and particle physicists can thus claim whatever they want, practice (ie, IT) overruns them anyway. Who cares about cladistics’ claim that there is a single true tree of life and/or particle physics’ claim that it has found the particle (process?) that joins pattern and process if we can build an information exchange system that excludes their claims? Too bad that they had to be excluded, but what’s their alternative?
Source: http://menvall.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/cladistics-and-particle-physics-are-run-over-by-it/
