Essay Questions
2. Imagine that you had to engineer from scratch an organism for optimal survival in the natural world. With respect to all the different sensory systems considered in this chapter, how would you design such an organism so that it functioned optimally? Do you think that engineering an organism in this manner results in a more effective solution than evolution via natural selection?
Key Points:
- Relevant issues that the student should consider in their response include the speed of processing of the sensory system, its spatial and temporal resolution, its flexibility, and its range of response.
- The student should especially consider the role of the system in responding to situations of threat (e.g.
- possible predator) and reward (e.g. potential food source or mate).
- The student should also consider the relative advantages and disadvantages of locomotion (as in animals) versus a stationary existence (as in plants).
- In their response, the student must consider ALL the different sensory systems presented in this chapter.
- With respect to the final part of the question, credit should be received for an appreciation of the fact that natural selection operates within existing constraints and not always as an a priori ‘intelligent engineer’.
