Major Transitions
From CasGroup
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| + | == Evolutionary Systems == | ||
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A minor evolutionary transition is for example the transition from fins to legs. | A minor evolutionary transition is for example the transition from fins to legs. | ||
A major evolutionary transition (a 'landmark transition') in the sense of Eörs Szathmáry | A major evolutionary transition (a 'landmark transition') in the sense of Eörs Szathmáry | ||
and John Maynard Smith is a change in the way information is stored and transmitted. | and John Maynard Smith is a change in the way information is stored and transmitted. | ||
Often this requires a new [[Code|code]] (i.e. a new [[Evolutionary_System|evolutionary system]]). | Often this requires a new [[Code|code]] (i.e. a new [[Evolutionary_System|evolutionary system]]). | ||
| + | Therefore major evolutionary transitions are related to the "evolution of evolution": | ||
| + | new species of evolutionary systems appear. | ||
The largest evolutionary transitions are the transitions from one [[Evolutionary_System|evolutionary system]] (or [[Complex_Adaptive_System|CAS]]) to another. | The largest evolutionary transitions are the transitions from one [[Evolutionary_System|evolutionary system]] (or [[Complex_Adaptive_System|CAS]]) to another. | ||
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* memetic (cultural) evolution | * memetic (cultural) evolution | ||
* .. | * .. | ||
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| + | The big questions in science have to do with the big evolutionary transitions: | ||
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| + | * how living arose from nonliving matter (the beginning of biological evolution) | ||
| + | * how matter arose at all (i.e. how something can arise from nothing, the beginning of cosmic evolution) | ||
| + | * how mind arose from matter (the beginning of cultural evolution) | ||
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| + | Many major evolutionary transitions evolve a transition from a '''group of organism''' to a '''group as organism''', for example the transition from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prokaryote prokaryotes] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eukaryote eukaryotes], from unicellular eukaryotes (green or red algae) to multicellular eukaryotes (animals, plants, fungi), and from humans to societies. Eukaryotes are organisms whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, within which the genetic material is carried. Simple eukaryotic organisms are for instance red and green algae. Examples for prokaryotes are bacteria. Eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes more than 2 billion years ago. Eukaryotic cells probably originated as a group or community of prokaryotes. | ||
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| + | == Major evolutionary transitions == | ||
In the book [http://www.amazon.com/Major-Transitions-Evolution-Maynard-Smith/dp/019850294X The Major Transitions in Evolution] from John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry (Oxford University Press, 1995), the authors define a major transition as a major change in the way (genetic) information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. The authors focus on biological evolution. The book description says: | In the book [http://www.amazon.com/Major-Transitions-Evolution-Maynard-Smith/dp/019850294X The Major Transitions in Evolution] from John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry (Oxford University Press, 1995), the authors define a major transition as a major change in the way (genetic) information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. The authors focus on biological evolution. The book description says: | ||
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# New ways of transmitting information have arisen.e.g. DNA-protein, cell heredity, epigenesis, universal grammar. | # New ways of transmitting information have arisen.e.g. DNA-protein, cell heredity, epigenesis, universal grammar. | ||
| - | == 28 Steps from Morowitz == | + | == The 28 Steps from Morowitz == |
The Twenty-Eight Steps from "The Emergence of Everything - How the World Became Complex" Harold J. Morowitz, Oxford University Press, 2002. Morowitz lists Twenty-Eight Steps which lead from elementary particles and their laws to the emergence of human beings. He says "there is some arbitrariness to the number 28. It is a compromise between viewing the major changes and including enough detail to reify the concept of emergence." | The Twenty-Eight Steps from "The Emergence of Everything - How the World Became Complex" Harold J. Morowitz, Oxford University Press, 2002. Morowitz lists Twenty-Eight Steps which lead from elementary particles and their laws to the emergence of human beings. He says "there is some arbitrariness to the number 28. It is a compromise between viewing the major changes and including enough detail to reify the concept of emergence." | ||
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* 28. '''The spiritual''' What kind of emergence is on-going ? Are we in the middle of the emergence of something new, perhaps a new "digital" form of spirit or AI ? | * 28. '''The spiritual''' What kind of emergence is on-going ? Are we in the middle of the emergence of something new, perhaps a new "digital" form of spirit or AI ? | ||
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| + | == Transition between ecological and economic systems == | ||
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| + | The connection between ecological and [[Economic_system|economic systems]] is interesting, too. | ||
| + | Both systems can be viewed as | ||
| + | [[Complex_Adaptive_System|complex adaptive systems]] | ||
| + | consisting of many interacting agents that adapt and learn | ||
| + | from their interactions with one another. | ||
| + | One major difference is perhaps what the | ||
| + | agents do with their supply, the agents | ||
| + | of ecosystems are more "selfish": | ||
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| + | * Organisms consume s.th. to produce more of themselves, they maintain themselves with food, and they produce stuff necessary to make more copies of themselves. Agent and product are identical. | ||
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| + | * Companies consume s.th. to produce a product which is different from themselves. Agent and product are different. | ||
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| + | There is a fundamental difference in the input-output | ||
| + | relations in economic and ecological systems. | ||
| + | The output of agents in economic systems is | ||
| + | a product made from the inputs during the | ||
| + | business process. In ecologic systems this is | ||
| + | only comparable to the cognitive part of | ||
| + | organisms, where perceptions are processed to | ||
| + | produce an action. In the "food web" there is | ||
| + | nothing produced except the organisms themselves. | ||
| + | Whenever there is something interesting happening | ||
| + | in nature, it is either supper time or pairing | ||
| + | time. The former is used to sustain the body, | ||
| + | the latter to sustain the species. | ||
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| + | The Neolithic Revolution | ||
| + | is a kind of major evolutionary transition between ecology | ||
| + | and economy, see also the corresponding | ||
| + | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_revolution wikipedia entry]. | ||
| + | The first economic systems emerged in ecological systems | ||
| + | when hunters and gatherers became farmers and cattle | ||
| + | breeders. In a sense, economic systems are as old as | ||
| + | civilization and agriculture. Farmers are located | ||
| + | at the intersection of ecological and econmic systems, | ||
| + | because they produce organic products by controlled | ||
| + | growth and domestication. They act like a company or | ||
| + | organization which produces industrial products which | ||
| + | are sold on markets, but the products themselves are | ||
| + | organic and completely embedded in the ecological | ||
| + | system. | ||
== Links == | == Links == | ||
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* D. W. McSHEA, [http://www.biology.duke.edu/mcshealab/McSheaLabPage/Minor%20transitions.pdf The minor transitions in hierarchical evolution and the question of a directional bias], J. Evol. Biol. 14 (2001) 502-518 | * D. W. McSHEA, [http://www.biology.duke.edu/mcshealab/McSheaLabPage/Minor%20transitions.pdf The minor transitions in hierarchical evolution and the question of a directional bias], J. Evol. Biol. 14 (2001) 502-518 | ||
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| + | * Kevin Kelly, [http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/11/the_ninth_trans.php The Ninth Transition of Evolution] | ||
== Books == | == Books == | ||
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* John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmary, "The Major Transitions in Evolution", Oxford University Press, 1997 | * John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmary, "The Major Transitions in Evolution", Oxford University Press, 1997 | ||
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| + | [[Category:Evolutionary Principles]] [[Category:Transitions]] | ||
