Bernhard Rensch and Laws in Biology and the "absolutely certain" Existence of Psychic Phenomena

 Anyone familiar with Mises's praxeology (a formalization of what Mises viewed as the accepted method and epistemology of economics) will be in sympathy with the following, although it ventures further afield and contradicts Mises's unfortunate rejection of the applicability of biology to his project:

"In the realm of living beings most processes are extraordinarily complex, and many special laws act together or interfere with one another. Thus “exceptions” to the laws result, and therefore we often speak of “rules” only and not of “laws.” However, we must not forget that, finally, most “rules” are effected by laws, the complicated interactions of which we often cannot analyze and the results of which we cannot predict in each case... "With absolute certainty we can suppose the existence of psychic phenomena, that is to say, sensations, ideas, feelings, etc., only in man (more exactly: only each Ego for its own self). However, it is an obvious consequence of uttermost probability that psychic processes also exist in animals, at least in higher ones. We are convinced that a dog or a parrot is not only a physiological machine but a being capable of seeing, hearing, remembering, feeling pleasure, etc. Hence psychic phenomena (awareness in its broader sense) surely did not arise suddenly in the course of phylogeny (for instance, in Pithecanthropus) as something which was absolutely new and peculiar." Rensch, Bernhard. 1960. “The Laws of Evolution.” In The Evolution of Life, 1st ed., I:95–116. Evolution After Darwin: The University of Chicago Centennial. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

The Cruel Twist of Fate: Imagination

Karl Popper suggested that the amoeba, if it has an erroneous theory, will probably forfeit its life; but humans have the capacity for reason, can criticize theories, and discard those that crumble under criticism. But, in a cruel twist of fate, god (metaphorically) furnished us with an imagination that can conjure up that which cannot exist. For that reason we are still forfeiting our lives in defense of erroneous theories.