claim

active

claim:evolution-actually-searches-not-only-genotype-space-but-a-more-tractable-space-of-behavior-shaping-signals-that-exploit-cellular-intelligence

Evolution actually searches not only genotype space but a more tractable space of behavior-shaping signals that exploit cellular intelligence.

Central thesis of the paper.

Source paper

extracted_from

Darwin's agential materials: evolutionary implications of multiscale competency in developmental biology

(2023) · Levin, Michael

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Findings (2)

finding

Bioelectric signals can induce ectopic organogenesis independent of tissue type
supports
Genetically wild-type planaria can be induced to adopt head shapes of other species by brief bioelectric modulation, crossing 100-150 My evolutionary distance in days.
supports
From Sullivan et al. 2016 and Emmons-Bell et al. 2015; demonstrates that large morphospace distances can be crossed by physiological manipulation.

Communities (2)

community

Causal emergence in biological systems
members_of
Examines how macro-scale causal power exceeds micro-scale in living and learning systems.
Agential evolution & biological individuality
members_of
Frames evolution as producing goal-directed, problem-solving agents across nested scales of individuality.

Frameworks (1)

framework

Modern Evolutionary Synthesis
extends
Traditional evolutionary framework focused on genetic mutation and selection; paper argues for expansion to include physiological and cellular problem-solving without requiring goal-directedness at large scale.

Concepts (1)

concept

behavior-shaping signals
associated_with
High-level signals that exploit agential nature of cells to achieve outcomes without micromanaging hardware; evolution searches this space.

Questions (2)

question

What features of morphogenesis enable evolution to search a difficult space with pleiotropy, degeneracy, and redundancy so rapidly and effectively?
gates
Core open problem: asks how cellular competency affords evolutionary speed and robustness despite the ruggedness of the genotype-phenotype mapping.
Genotype-phenotype mapping problem
gates

Claims (1)

claim

By using a variational autoencoder-like architecture for genomic compression, evolution is freed from over-training and pushed to evolve general-purpose problem-solving machines.
extends
Claim linking the indirect genotype-phenotype mapping to robustness and open-endedness.

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

How Does Evolution Search The Space Of Behaviorshapingquestion0.832
Evolution makes problem-solving agents, not solutions; commitment to mutation and uncontrollable environments as ratchet for intelligenceclaim0.822
Evolution learns to generalize beyond default morphologies, producing problem-solving machines.claim0.814
Argues that evolutionary learning goes beyond specific adaptations.
The evolutionary process contains an intelligence ratchet: as competency increases, selection struggles to see the structural genome, further driving selection for competency mechanisms.claim0.812
Explains why planaria with messy genomes have robust morphologies.
MCA creates a more tractable search space by smoothing the fitness landscape, mitigating the inverse problem and enabling survival of mutations that would otherwise be deleterious.claim0.812
Subclaim.
Evolution re-uses many of the same mechanisms and strategies across scales of organization and problem spaces.claim0.804
Claims that scale-free dynamics, like bioelectric networks, are ancient and conserved.
Evolution often produces general-purpose problem-solving machines whose capacities cannot be inferred from the default invariant course of development.claim0.804
A claim about the outcome of the MCA-enhanced process.
Evolution was using developmental bioelectricity long before neurons and muscles appeared, to solve the problem of creating and repairing complex bodies.claim0.800
Claim about the primacy of bioelectric morphogenesis.