Evolution, Development and Complexity: Multiscale Evolutionary Models of Complex Adaptive Systems

Description

This book explores the universe and its subsystems from the three lenses of evolutionary (contingent), developmental (predictable), and complex (adaptive) processes at all scales. It draws from prolific experts within the academic disciplines of complexity science, physical science, information and computer science, theoretical and evo-devo biology, cosmology, astrobiology, evolutionary theory, developmental theory, and philosophy. The chapters come from a Satellite Meeting, "Evolution, Development and Complexity" (EDC) hosted at the Conference on Complex Systems, in Cancun, 2017. The contributions have been peer-reviewed and contributors from outside the conference were invited to submit chapters to ensure full coverage of the topics. This book explores many issues within the field of EDC such as the interaction of evolutionary stochasticity and developmental determinism in biological systems and what they might teach us about these twin processes in other complex systems. This text will appeal to students and researchers within the complex systems and EDC fields. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxx Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Cosmological Natural Selection and the Function of Life (Michael E. Price)....Pages 3-22 Evolutionary Development: A Universal Perspective (John M. Smart)....Pages 23-92 Life, Intelligence, and the Selection of Universes (Rüdiger Vaas)....Pages 93-133 Universal Ethics: Organized Complexity as an Intrinsic Value (Clément Vidal, Jean-Paul Delahaye)....Pages 135-154 Inductive Probabilities in Astrobiology and SETI: Have Sceptics Retreated? (Milan M. Ćirković)....Pages 155-167 Front Matter ....Pages 169-169 The Equivalence of Free Energy and Information: Thermodynamic Descriptions as a Condition of Possibility of Objectivity (Joseph M. Brisendine)....Pages 171-193 A Multi-scale View of the Emergent Complexity of Life: A Free-Energy Proposal (Casper Hesp, Maxwell Ramstead, Axel Constant, Paul Badcock, Michael Kirchhoff, Karl Friston)....Pages 195-227 Action and Power Efficiency in Self-Organization: The Case for Growth Efficiency as a Cellular Objective in Escherichia coli (Georgi Yordanov Georgiev, Tommi Aho, Juha Kesseli, Olli Yli-Harja, Stuart A. Kauffman)....Pages 229-244 On Relation Between Swarm and Evolutionary Dynamics and Complex Networks (Ivan Zelinka, Roman Šenkeřík)....Pages 245-260 Universal Darwinism and the Origins of Order (John O. Campbell, Michael E. Price)....Pages 261-290 Front Matter ....Pages 291-291 Complexity, Development, and Evolution in Morphogenetic Collective Systems (Hiroki Sayama)....Pages 293-305 Comparative Genomics of Convergent Evolution (Claudio L. Flores Martinez)....Pages 307-325 Why Functional Genomics Is the Central Concern of Biology and the Hard Problem of Abiogenesis (James A. Coffman)....Pages 327-337 Synergistic Selection: A Bioeconomic Approach to Complexity in Evolution (Peter A. Corning)....Pages 339-352 Front Matter ....Pages 353-353 Movement and Spatial Specificity Support Scaling in Ant Colonies and Immune Systems: Application to National Biosurveillance (Tatiana Flanagan, Walt Beyeler, Drew Levin, Patrick Finley, Melanie Moses)....Pages 355-366 Special Operations Forces as a Global Immune System (Joseph Norman, Yaneer Bar-Yam)....Pages 367-379 Applying Evolutionary Meta-Strategies to Human Problems (Valerie Gremillion)....Pages 381-402 Complex Dynamics in Small Groups (Holly Arrow, Kelly Bouas Henry)....Pages 403-420 The Building Blocks of Religious Systems: Approaching Religion as a Complex Adaptive System (Richard Sosis)....Pages 421-449 Back Matter ....Pages 451-454