Active causation and the origin of meaning
arXiv Preprint Archive October 8, 2013 via arXiv
Summary
Purpose and meaning appear absent from the physical world and natural sciences, yet are essential for understanding mind and culture. Darwinian evolution produces only apparent goals. Using evolutionary models, the author shows that a slight, evolvable extension—targeted modulation of mutation rate, known to exist in biological cells—can produce genuine goals. This gives rise to intrinsic meaning and the ability to initiate goal-directed chains of causation (active causation). The mechanism uses randomness modulated by a feedback loop regulated by evolutionary pressure. Extending the scheme to behavioral variability shows how freedom of behavior is possible, and further extension to communication suggests active exchange of intrinsic meaning between organisms may be the origin of consciousness, providing a physical basis for free will.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Q-bio.pe Cs.ne Nlin.ao Q-bio.nc Evolution |
| Key finding | Targeted modulation of mutation rate, an evolvable extension of basic Darwinian evolution, can produce genuine goals, intrinsic meaning, and active causation, which may underlie consciousness and free will. |
Abstract
Purpose and meaning are necessary concepts for understanding mind and culture, but appear to be absent from the physical world and are not part of the explanatory framework of the natural sciences. Understanding how meaning (in the broad sense of the term) could arise from a physical world has proven to be a tough problem. The basic scheme of Darwinian evolution produces adaptations that only represent apparent ("as if") goals and meaning. Here I use evolutionary models to show that a slight, evolvable extension of the basic scheme is sufficient to produce genuine goals. The extension, targeted modulation of mutation rate, is known to be generally present in biological cells, and gives rise to two phenomena that are absent from the non-living world: intrinsic meaning and the ability to initiate goal-directed chains of causation (active causation). The extended scheme accomplishes this by utilizing randomness modulated by a feedback loop that is itself regulated by evolutionary pressure. The mechanism can be extended to behavioural variability as well, and thus shows how freedom of behaviour is possible. A further extension to communication suggests that the active exchange of intrinsic meaning between organisms may be the origin of consciousness, which in combination with active causation can provide a physical basis for the phenomenon of free will.