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Evolution by Selfreference
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Author: Zbigniew Lisiecki,     1.4      17.03.2009  (former versions) 
  0.1             02.09.2008
1.0             15.02.2009
1.1             19.02.2009
1.2             23.02.2009
1.3             24.02.2009
1.4             17.03.2009

This list is only for documentation purposes.
Old versions are considered as not valid any more.
 

Evolution by Selfreference


  1. The contemporary standard theory explaining the evolution of species with the natural selection between competiting forms  (1) 
      (and with the random DNA drift and other known evolution mechanisms like the gene flow )  
    is not sufficient as a general paradigma. This article proposes a change of view by which the feedback mechanism provided by the loop closed with heriting appears as the main engine of the evolution. The concrete phenotype is still shaped by the natural selection. With a new view explaining some phenomena appears more natural and easier to undestand.



    1. The engine of evolution
      1. Why is the competition model insufficient
      2. The feedback model
      3. The natural spectrum

    2. Why sytheses come about
      1. Spontaneous sythese

    3. Examples
      1. The paaring behaviour
      2. Sudden evolution jumps and the speciation
      3. The noncoding DNA
      4. The emergence of life on the earth
      5. The hypothesis of god and the emergence of language
      6. Regaining control over social systems
      7. The evolving planet - What comes next after humans ?

    4. Conclusions
      1. Summary
      2. The outlook on future unifications
      3. FAQ - frequently asked questions

  2. The engine of evolution

    The Theory of Evolution (ToE) build on the work by Charles Darwin explains the evolution as a aggregation of small changes, which appeared more efficient in the competition between many organisms. It's so called "modern synthesis" unified the work of many scientists up to late 40-ties adding beside the natural selection also the genetic drift as another possible mechanism promoting evolution. Mid 60-ties after the DNA discovery a gene-centric view has been added. Still the main engine of the evolution is considered to be the competition between many forms.
    1. Why is the competition model insufficient

      The ToE, as defined above has been claimed to be insufficient in importand cases. A vivid discussion in science and in the society generally still holds on. Below I list phenomena which explanation in the standard paradigma of ToE appears not natural and strightforward, which on the other hand the model presented in this article claims to explain much easier.
      1. Pairing behaviour in biology

        The diversity evolved around pairing behaviour seems to be denied by the urge of efficiency stemming from natural selection. No one knows for sure why a peacock has a long tail nor why a deer carries antlers. The choice made by the female proposed as an explanation lacks a logical cause and the gene drift  (2) 
          see the sexual selection  
        alone does not explain why these appearences are so strong and important in almost every specie. Also the homosexuality belongs to this cathegory  (3) 
          The ToE suggests to explain homosexuality with the benefit provided by the common upbringing children. Yet this way it only explains friendship and not the erotical charm.  
      2. Sudden jumps of evolution

        The fossil records suggest vivid developements in the evolution of species, which take place suddenly and in which new species appear, and long periods without change beween them. Changes in the environment (e.g. climat) has been proposed as a cause, but a true link has never been demonstrated.  (4) 
          Stratigrafic convention naming periods in the earth history with cenozoic, mezozoic, peleozoic, and their subdivisions has been chosen in the way which signs discontinuities in fossil records, some of which point on huge overall changes in the whole biospfere. Even if the last such sudden change (65 mil.years ago) has most probably been caused by a meteorit other catastrophic changes of this magnitude are supposed to be acompanied with clima changes. Yet the temperature and sea level diagrams are continuous on the borders between these periods. Thus no correlation between jumps of evolution and the clima is evident.  
      3. The origin of the DNA-machinery

        It is ofter argued that the evolution can due to ToE only take place when it's subject (here the DNA-machinery) already exists. Yet why did it emerged at all ? Also the gene drift refers rather existing systems than their sudden emergence, which on the other hand obviously took place. Appearing of some primary chemical cycles seems not to be explained by ToE in convincing way. Still scientists dispute if it was a rare event, which took place by chance or it was a necessity.
      4. Social systems, the evolution of culture

        The mechanism based on the natural selection proposed by ToE should be applicable also to the evolution of a human culture, of social and economical systems, etc., but ToE seems to fail to explain these processes sufficently. There seem to be no specie competiting with humans, which caused a natural selection nor a genetic drift strong enough to promote the emergence of human language.
      5. Evolution with no competition pressure at all

        Even without any competiting subjects the evolution can take place and new complexity may emerge. Some examples from the points above fall into this cathegory. Others are: erobering new environments were the pure number of ressources excludes any selection pressure. Yet even without competiting partners such systems do evolve. Why did organisms erobering new continents or comming out of the ocean aquired new abilities if no selection pressure existed at the beginning of these expansions ?
      6. One evolving organism

        Not only without competitors but also without any outer environment the evolution of a single system is (internally) possible. An example is given by the hypothesis of Gaia describing the evolution of the biosphere as a whole, which cannot be reduced to nor explained by the evolution of it's parts. The proper model of evolution should at least suggest a mechanism with which evolving parts (like species) cause the new unifying complexity (like an ecosystem) to emerge. By the standard ToE evolving parts might promote new comprexity or cause a selfdestruction of a whole such organism equally probable.

      The above list gives items at different abstraction levels, which also partially overlap. To this phenomena list one may add as a seventh point a general problem stating that:
      1. The contemporary standard caueses misundestandings.

        Misundestandings of the theory of evolution (ToE) are well known.  (5) 
          A good example is the situation about Richard Dawking's gene centered view of evolution in which he asks the question if the subject of natural selection are organisms, groups of organisms, species, or just individuial genes, even if this is not the valid alternative. Genes and organisms are aspects of the same selection yet on different organisation levels.  
        This text claims to shows that these misundestandings have the common root: Elements of the theory have improper balance of importance - some without which the theory works well are positioned in the center of considerations and some other crucial aspects are spelled out as if they where secondary.

      The ToE surely partially touches these objections, but the solutions proposed seem at least not to be stright, efficient and very convincing. They seem to neglect somehow the true cause of change. At a more abstract level this cause yet possibly exists.  (6) 
        Traditionally evolutionists deny such a possibility to reject objections from creationists.  
    2. The feedback model

      As stated above the nature shows tendency to evolve towards more complexity even beyond the aplicability of the natural selection mechanism. How does this come about ?

      This text pays a special attension to the self-referencing feedback loops. One such obvious feedback loop is closed by inheriting DNA to the organisms in the next generation. These loops are naturally promoting self-amplification of forms. The reason for this amplification is the nature of a loop itself which is closed by passing functionalities to the next cycle. The biological evolution is build upon such cycles. In living organisms the natural feedback is mainly realised by successing and amplifying functionalities stored in DNA (inheritance). Parents bring up children, which can be considered copies similar to themselves.

      This feedback "engine" is going on supplied by the energy from the sun.

      In the EbS model the natural selection remains the main mechanism shaping a concrete phenotype. It curves the individual species out of the stream of generation cycles. Yet the natural selection is not a neccessary condition for the evolution to take place. Without it the evolution simply fills all possibilities spreading around so far as it reaches limits (like selections).

      Aldow the ineritance plays in the evolution of organisms undeniably the central role traditionally the natural selection has been put in the middle instaed. This calused the selfamplification, which the model presented here stresses to be overseen. As a consequence the whole theory was widely half-undestood in the society and importand phenomena has been half-explained by the science.

      The self-reference (or feedback) model on the other hand demonstrates more clear, what has partially already been known that:

      1. The power of evolution comes from the sun supplying the inheritance circles with energy. Without it no evolution (even with the best selection conditions) is ever possible.

      2. Even without the natural selection the evolution is possible. The genetic drift is an example.

      3. It shows toward extensions capable to explain social phenomena and the possible future evolution of our planet as a whole.

      4. It suggests mathematical means to cope with evolution of a species pool filling a chosen ecosystem.
    3. The natural spectrum

      To demonstrate how the feedback engine works let us consider as an example an electric amplifier fed back through the microphone by the sound that the loud speaker is producing. Obviously some high tone emerges. The control theory distingushes between a positive and a negative feedback. The expotential growth (explosion) is the consequence of the first one, while the steady vibration is the consequence of the second.

      Considering a feedback engine of a whole ecosystem is much more complex, but some clues are seen immediately. One can argue that the spectrum of some distinct "tones" (called species) with only small information transfere (gene transfere) beteewn them must come about. Why is it so ?

      Without giving the strict proof this article suggests that in any given initial random distribution some "minima" and "maxima" appear just by definition of a distribution variety. They must further contract and posess thus fixpoints  (8) 
        See also Banachs' fix point theorem.  
      identified in the biology as individual species.

      The computational methods can in principle be applied to judge about it what species spectrum will emerge. Some astronomical data like the day-night rythmus, the energy flux from the sun, etc. could be the bundary conditions. Yet the true "mystery" appears when:

      1. Different abstraction levels are considerd. i.e. organisms consists one of the others.

      2. The biosphere is astronomically stabile, which makes the developement direction and complexity less dependand on the outer influence.
  3. Why sytheses come about

    1. Spontaneous sythese

      It is worth to consider why and how the complexity of subsystems contribute to a new system (new feedback link). Truely the sudden emergence of a synthesizing system may appear as a miracle if the former growth of it's parts is disregarded. Yet even if subsystems are known the emergence of a new feedback link appears mysterious for a human. This is:

      1. partially due to the time scale of such a link creation, which compared with a steady functioning inheritance circle resembles naturally a jump.

      2. due to the human tendency to search for reasons, which observing the mechanism only partially suggests some "purpose of the evolution".  (9) 
          The cause of this mistake is suggested deeper in chapter 2.2.  


      Yet some unexplained rest still remains. Let us left all known mechanisms causing change aside and see if an evolution is still possible. To do this let's start with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium The principle defining this equilibrium demands:

      1. random mating
      2. no mutation
      3. no migration
      4. large population
      5. and no selection pressure


      The principle says that genotype frequences remain constant under such condition. This is often undestood, as if no evolvment is possible at all. Yet in a feedback model a significant change do takes place even under such conditions ! The population is growing explosively ! Surely the Hardy-Weinberg Principle remains valid as a mathamatical identity.

      Still most people won't even call is an evolution. It just the increase in size. Systems of many semi-identical individuals posess an importand feature, which one such individuum don't have. It has a drastically increased susceptibility to the outer environment influences. To see this for a physicist is easy (think of an frequency comb). For a non-physicst ask a question why a slide caliper with a dense pitch measures much more exact than a simple scale. There are new interferences, which appear now. While still no mutation and no selection pressure on individuals exists, some new "pressure" on an ensamble as a whole is appearing. There is only one step more needed to follow that such a system in Hardy-Weinberg equilibruim do evolves in a new super-system.

      Til now we considered (in a model) identical individuals and no further evolution seems possible. But the symmetry of identical individuals can under some circumstances break spontaneously. Imagine as an example that these individuals specialize in their different roles in a group. Then a new super-system appears without natural selection and possibly even without an outer environment. We call such a situation a spontaneous synthesis.
  4. Examples

    This chapter is providing examples, in which explanation, which the evolution by self-reference model (EbS) offers seems to be more successfull than the standard theory (ToE).
    1. The paaring behaviour

      Let us demonstrate how the EbS explains the diversity in paaring behaviours. The fertilisation poses obviously a bottleneck in the generation cycle: A small amount of DNA is transfered which has wast conseqences to the new organism (new cycle). A huge pressure from the whole self-refering loop concentrates at this point. Yet a grown up male and female posess enought ressources to realise and to amplify the behaviour which ever appears. As a consequence otherwise strange behaviours are amplified. For a deer to carry antlers is just not difficult enought to stand this pressure.  (10) 
        Such mating rituals has been studied and described. E.g. see Fisher in July 12, 1990 issue of Nature referenced by Chris Colby, Evidence for Evolution, sexual selection, 1997. What lacked was an explicite qualification of this mechanism as feedback amplification.  
       (11) 
        Also P.J.Weatherhead and R.J.Robertson pointed with their sexy son hypothesis towards some self-reference as a explanation for the sexual behaviour.  


      In a more pictorial metapher one can compare this bottleneck situation with daming up a river by narrows, which causes it to overflow. An evolution perpendicular to the direction, which the main feedback cycle is pointing to spreads around.

      Using this metapher one explains also the homosexuality in a simple way: There are enough ressources, also of erotic charm collected (damed) at this point near the reproduction events. The pressure of a feedback alone without outer cause nor benefit shows here it's power.

      Let us ask also why the reproduction occurs in the middle of a cycle and not at the end. Creating a sucessor at ones death appeared technically more logical. Even for some species males die immediately after female fertilisation. To answere such questions it seems usefull to consider for a given specie the whole birth and death cycle and ask in which part it is stronger and in which is is more vulnerable. (Obviously it's not only the genetic information which is circulating in cycles of breeding species.)

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