Theory, Practice, Adaptation

A familiar example of the Adaptation-To an Environment by an Organism is a chameleon that taking on the coloring of its surroundings.  Another is an Organism must approach the location of an object in order to have access to it, e. g. a fruit hanging from a tree.  A third, is, as the seeking of fidelity to an object indicates, the effort to present it in perception or language, e. g. the formulation of a Theory. Thus, it is not incorrect to characterize such perception as 'mirroring' its object, or language as 'picturing' its object, despite the protestations of Rorty or Wittgenstein.  Instead, the more accurate criticism of such concepts is that they abstract Adaptation-To from Adaptation-Of, e. g. from the plucking and eating of the fruit, misleadingly implying an antithesis between Theory and Practice.  So, Marx's qualification of "only" interpreting the world signifies an incomplete process, not one that is antithetical to changing it.  However, he seems to miss the application of the contrast to his own concepts--Dialectical Materialism is an Adaptation-To an object, while Revolution is an Adaptation-Of it.