The logic of chance
by Eugene V. Koonin · first published 2011
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2020–2024first – last mentioned
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If anyone is interested in further reading on this topic, or on evolution/origin of life in general, I highly recommend "The Logic of Chance" by Eugene Koonin. The book pieces together the latest knowledge from all the major fields of biology (genetics/bioinformatics, structural/physics, etc), math, physics, and philosophy in a way I've never…
on “The RNA World Hypothesis” ↗Look up the Logic of Chance by Eugene Koonin. Written by an actual evolution researcher of current times instead of legacy hacks like you-know-who. This book is even better because it actually talks a lot of about horizontal gene…
on “Mysterious DNA sequences, known as ‘Borgs,’ recovered from California mud” ↗I would encourage you to find a copy of (it's very expensive, but there are methods to acquire it, such as "libraries") Eugene Koonin's "The Logic of Chance", if this is a topic you're interested in. It basically goes through evolution from a molecular biology and information theory standpoint (and culminates in his own theory of "genesis").
on “Primitive Asgard Cells Show Life on the Brink of Complexity” ↗…My reading list from the past 5 years or so: 1. Making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes 2. Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman 3. On Writing by Stephen King 4. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaccson 5. The Logic of Chance by Eugene Koonin 6. GEB (gave up on this one though)
on “Why books don't work (2019)” ↗…of species, but I feel like you might have! I'd prefer to avoid a conversation based on credentials because of recent bad experiences there, but yes, I have read it. However, I was thinking about "The Logic of Chance" by Eugene Koonin, who is fairly well respected in the evolutionary biology field. Particularly, in "The Logic of Chance", he defines Lamarckian evolution as the following: >Lamarckian inheritance refers…
on “Scientists who say the lab-leak hypothesis for SARS-CoV-2 shouldn't be ruled out” ↗…protein has ever been discovered. Obviously 20^40000 is an incomprehensible coding space, but we can with a few broad strokes narrow that number down immensely. For starters, Eugene Koonin argues in The Logic of Chance, and elsewhere, that the evolution of proteins is limited by the amount of stable folds available in cell-like aqueous conditions. It's an impossible number to quantify but we do know that even most cellular…
on “Contemplating the End of Physics” ↗…not an economist nor that interested in them, but I did read Nassim Taleb's books* and Kahneman stuck out as one of very few economists Taleb doesn't totally trash. * I had read Eugene Koonin's "The Logic of Chance" and was then recommended Taleb's books for a more thorough perspective on probability, to apply to Koonin's work.
on “Daniel Kahneman has died” ↗