The evolution of “Life”: A Metadarwinian integrative approach

Communicative & Integrative Biology

Arnold De Loof¹ 

[1] KU Leuven - University of Leuven;

关键词: adaptation;    Calcigender;    cultural evolution;    definition of Life;    EES;    electrome;    evo-devo;    Metadarwinism;    Neo-Darwinism;    selection;   

DOI  :  10.1080/19420889.2017.1301335

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

It is undeniably very logical to first formulate an unambiguous definition of “Life” before engaging in defining the parameters instrumental to Life's evolution. Because nearly everybody assumes, erroneously in my opinion, that catching Life's essence in a single sentence is impossible, this way of thinking remained largely unexplored in evolutionary theory. Upon analyzing what exactly happens at the transition from “still alive” to “just dead,” the following definition emerged. What we call “Life” (L) is an activity. It is nothing other than the total sum (∑) of all communication acts (C) executed, at moment t, by entities organized as sender-receiver compartments: L = ∑C Such “living” entities are self-electrifying and talking ( = communicating) aggregates of fossil stardust operating in an environment heavily polluted by toxic calcium. Communication is a multifaceted, complex process that is seldom well explained in introductory textbooks of biology. Communication is instrumental to adaptation because, at the cellular level, any act of communication is in fact a problem-solving act. It can be logically deduced that not Natural Selection itself but communication/problem-solving activity preceding selection is the universal driving force of evolution. This is against what textbooks usually claim, although doubt on the status of Natural Selection as driving force has been around for long. Finally, adopting the sender-receiver with its 2 memory systems (genetic and cognitive, both with their own rules) and 2 types of progeny (”physical children” and “pupils”) as the universal unit of architecture and function of all living entities, also enables the seamless integration of cultural and organic evolution, another long-standing tough problem in evolutionary theory. Paraphrasing Theodosius Dobzhansky, the very essence of biology is: “Nothing in biology and evolutionary theory makes sense except in the light of the ability of living matter to communicate, and by doing so, to solve problems.”

【 授权许可】

Unknown