Linson, Adam and Ponkshe, Aditya and Calvo, Paco (2021) On plants and principles. [Preprint]

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Abstract

A critical oversight in the authors’ (Birch et al.) UAL framework arises in its stated basis in an “unlimited heredity” (UH) argument. Specifically, the foundational UH claim is that there is a possibility space constrained by the known properties of DNA, and that, within that space, a subset of specific “real” lineages arise. These lineages are actualisations of possibilities, under the assumption that no amount of time would be sufficient to actualise all possibilities. The oversight – already present in UH, but ‘inherited’ by UAL – regards what pressures produce the actual subset of lineages from the in principle possible lineages.
Significantly, the subset is neither due solely to the “constraints” granted by Birch et al., nor is it arbitrary. Rather, the subset of actual lineages is the result of a reciprocal process with the environment that has been highlighted in research on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) (e.g. Laland et al. 2017). In this commentary, we will underscore how this critical oversight concerning reciprocal pressures poses a core problem for the target article’s characterisation of UAL.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Linson, Adam adam.linson@stir.ac.uk 0000-0001-9602-6536 Ponkshe, Aditya ponkshe.aditya@gmail.com 0000-0001-6242-3760 Calvo, Paco fjcalvo@um.es 0000-0002-6196-7560
Additional Information:	Accepted commentary on Birch, Ginsburg and Jablonka’s target article Unlimited Associative Learning and the Origins of Consciousness: A Primer and Some Predictions. Forthcoming in Biology & Philosophy.
Keywords:	Plant behavior; extended evolutionary synthesis; associative learning
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Consciousness Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Learning and Memory
Depositing User:	Paco Calvo Garzón
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2021 03:21
Last Modified:	26 Mar 2021 03:21
Item ID:	18785
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Consciousness Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Learning and Memory
Date:	8 March 2021
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18785

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