Evolutionary Systems and Society: A General Theory

by Vilmos Csányi

Overview

This work is a bold new effort to embrace all aspects of life—molecular, cellular, behavioral, and cultural—within the formulation of a general theory of evolution that extends classical Darwinian theory to include human society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822379485
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB

Table of Contents

Foreward xi

Acknowledgments xii

Preface xiii

1. Theoretical Problems of Modeling the Biosocial System 1

System and model 1

System, components, identity 4

Structure, organization, organizational levels 6

Information, function 8

Origin of information and complexity 14

The replicative model 18

Operation of the replicative model 22

2. Molecular Evolution 25

The origin of life 25

Synthesis of building blocks: polymers on primeval Earth and in outer space 26

The phase of molecular evolution 54

The autogenesis of eukaryotes 67

3. The Evolution of Multicellular Organisms 78

The first period of the evolution of prokaryotes 78

A model of the origin of multicellular organisms of from prokaryotes 79

A model of multicellular evolution from eukaryotes 81

Ontogenesis of multicellular organisms: an autogenetic process 82

Macroevolution 84

4. The Evolution of Ecosystems 86

Ecosystem as a component system 86

Autogenetic model of the evolution of ecosystems 90

Evolution of the biosphere 93

5. Some Unsolved Problems of the Evolutionary Theory and Autogenetic Model 95

Neo-Darwinism 95

Neutral evolution 97

Punctuated evolution and stasis 99

Adaptation, fitness, and selection 101

The meaning of adaptation, fitness, and selection in the autogenetic model 103

Creative and negative selection 106

Creative and negative selection at various organizational levels 108

6. Neural Evolution 113

Energy flows in the multicellular organisms 113

Models of the external world in the brain 115

The structure of the modeling brain 118

Outlines of a behavioral theory 127

Phases of autogenesis of the human brain 142

7. Cultural Evolution 148

Animal cultures 149

The question of the genetic determination of culture: coevolution of genes and culture 150

Cultural complexes as a second-order organisms or sociocultural machines 155

The autogenetic model of cultural evolution 158

The zero-system of cultural evolution and the biological basis of human culture 163

The phases of cultural replication 174

The emergence of allopoietic cultural machines and further phases of identical replication 181

Technical evolution 184

Autogenesis of the global system 187

8. Fundamental Laws of the Evolutionary Process 190

9. The Problems of a Finite Earth 193

The biosphere 193

Population growth 196

Economic problems 197

Appendix 1 201

Appendix 2 204

Appendix 3 (Gyorgy Kampis) 216

References 227

Index 249