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<!DOCTYPE html> <html > <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/open_search.xml" title="Academia.edu"> <meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" name="viewport"> <meta name="google-site-verification" content="bKJMBZA7E43xhDOopFZkssMMkBRjvYERV-NaN4R6mrs"> <meta name="csrf-param" content="authenticity_token" /> <meta name="csrf-token" content="xmMnE8AHZh2G71UwAHM7Wc99Lp0BWb+fzMhGZJ5pshJYfsvR1Hb/RTuzTD5+noSSVJ8eYQYoMDPswM8fJzijPw==" /> <meta name="citation_title" content="The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems" /> <meta name="citation_author" content="Placide S Severe" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.academia.edu/124953638/The_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Throughout biological history, life has evolved from simple, unicellular organisms to the intricate web of biodiversity that spans modern ecosystems. 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From the Cambrian Explosion, which saw the rapid diversification of life forms, to the development" /> <title>(PDF) The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems | Placide S Severe - Academia.edu</title> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.academia.edu/124953638/The_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems" /> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-5VKX33P2DS"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-5VKX33P2DS', { cookie_domain: 'academia.edu', send_page_view: false, }); gtag('event', 'page_view', { 'controller': "single_work", 'action': "show", 'controller_action': 'single_work#show', 'logged_in': 'false', 'edge': 'unknown', // Send nil if there is no A/B test bucket, in case some records get logged // with missing data - that way we can distinguish between the two cases. // ab_test_bucket should be of the form <ab_test_name>:<bucket> 'ab_test_bucket': null, }) </script> <script> var $controller_name = 'single_work'; var $action_name = "show"; var $rails_env = 'production'; var $app_rev = '49879c2402910372f4abc62630a427bbe033d190'; var $domain = 'academia.edu'; var $app_host = "academia.edu"; var $asset_host = "academia-assets.com"; var $start_time = new Date().getTime(); var $recaptcha_key = "6LdxlRMTAAAAADnu_zyLhLg0YF9uACwz78shpjJB"; var $recaptcha_invisible_key = "6Lf3KHUUAAAAACggoMpmGJdQDtiyrjVlvGJ6BbAj"; var $disableClientRecordHit = false; </script> <script> window.require = { config: function() { return function() {} } } </script> <script> window.Aedu = window.Aedu || {}; window.Aedu.hit_data = null; window.Aedu.serverRenderTime = new Date(1732417240000); window.Aedu.timeDifference = new Date().getTime() - 1732417240000; </script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ScholarlyArticle","abstract":"Throughout biological history, life has evolved from simple, unicellular organisms to the intricate web of biodiversity that spans modern ecosystems. From the Cambrian Explosion, which saw the rapid diversification of life forms, to the development of complex human societies, evolution appears to be on a trajectory toward increasing complexity. However, this apparent directionality raises an important question: Why does evolution produce such complexity? What drives the formation of not just complex organisms, but entire ecosystems characterized by interdependence and synergy? In this disquisition, we will explore a novel conceptual framework termed The Mereological Agent, which offers an explanation for why evolution seems to favor the emergence of complex systems. The concept of the Mereological Agent posits that complexity arises from the convergence, interrelationship, and concomitance of systems, leading to what appears to be intentionality, even in systems without conscious direction. Despite lacking intrinsic intention, these systems exhibit a kind of emergent intentionality-a functional imperative to produce and sustain increasingly complex systems. This functional imperative, as I will argue, is evident in biological evolution and the creation of ecosystems.","author":[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Person","name":"Placide S Severe"}],"contributor":[],"dateCreated":"2024-10-22","dateModified":"2024-10-26","datePublished":null,"headline":"The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems","inLanguage":"en","keywords":["Evolutionary Biology","Artificial Intelligence","Philosophy of Science","Biology"],"locationCreated":null,"publication":null,"publisher":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":null},"image":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"url":"https://www.academia.edu/124953638/The_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems","sourceOrganization":[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"EducationalOrganization","name":null}]}</script><link rel="stylesheet" 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"https://www.academia.edu/login?post_login_redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F124953638%2FThe_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems%3Fauto%3Ddownload"; window.loswp.translateUrl = "https://www.academia.edu/login?post_login_redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F124953638%2FThe_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems%3Fshow_translation%3Dtrue"; window.loswp.previewableAttachments = [{"id":119220569,"identifier":"Attachment_119220569","shouldShowBulkDownload":false}]; window.loswp.shouldDetectTimezone = true; window.loswp.shouldShowBulkDownload = true; window.loswp.showSignupCaptcha = false window.loswp.willEdgeCache = false; window.loswp.work = {"work":{"id":124953638,"created_at":"2024-10-22T11:01:27.241-07:00","from_world_paper_id":null,"updated_at":"2024-10-28T16:32:36.413-07:00","_data":{"abstract":"Throughout biological history, life has evolved from simple, unicellular organisms to the intricate web of biodiversity that spans modern ecosystems. From the Cambrian Explosion, which saw the rapid diversification of life forms, to the development of complex human societies, evolution appears to be on a trajectory toward increasing complexity. However, this apparent directionality raises an important question: Why does evolution produce such complexity? What drives the formation of not just complex organisms, but entire ecosystems characterized by interdependence and synergy? In this disquisition, we will explore a novel conceptual framework termed The Mereological Agent, which offers an explanation for why evolution seems to favor the emergence of complex systems. The concept of the Mereological Agent posits that complexity arises from the convergence, interrelationship, and concomitance of systems, leading to what appears to be intentionality, even in systems without conscious direction. Despite lacking intrinsic intention, these systems exhibit a kind of emergent intentionality-a functional imperative to produce and sustain increasingly complex systems. This functional imperative, as I will argue, is evident in biological evolution and the creation of ecosystems."},"document_type":"paper","pre_hit_view_count_baseline":null,"quality":"high","language":"en","title":"The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems","broadcastable":true,"draft":null,"has_indexable_attachment":true,"indexable":true}}["work"]; window.loswp.workCoauthors = [344978]; window.loswp.locale = "en"; window.loswp.countryCode = "SG"; window.loswp.cwvAbTestBucket = ""; window.loswp.designVariant = "ds_vanilla"; window.loswp.fullPageMobileSutdModalVariant = "full_page_mobile_sutd_modal"; window.loswp.useOptimizedScribd4genScript = false; window.loswp.appleClientId = 'edu.academia.applesignon';</script><script defer="" src="https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client"></script><div class="ds-loswp-container"><div class="ds-work-card--grid-container"><div class="ds-work-card--container js-loswp-work-card"><div class="ds-work-card--cover"><div class="ds-work-cover--wrapper"><div class="ds-work-cover--container"><button class="ds-work-cover--clickable js-swp-download-button" data-signup-modal="{"location":"swp-splash-paper-cover","attachmentId":119220569,"attachmentType":"pdf"}"><img alt="First page of “The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems”" class="ds-work-cover--cover-thumbnail" src="https://0.academia-photos.com/attachment_thumbnails/119220569/mini_magick20241028-1-6qvt11.png?1730158331" /><img alt="PDF Icon" class="ds-work-cover--file-icon" src="//a.academia-assets.com/assets/single_work_splash/adobe.icon-574afd46eb6b03a77a153a647fb47e30546f9215c0ee6a25df597a779717f9ef.svg" /><div class="ds-work-cover--hover-container"><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 20px" translate="no">download</span><p>Download Free PDF</p></div><div class="ds-work-cover--ribbon-container">Download Free PDF</div><div class="ds-work-cover--ribbon-triangle"></div></button></div></div></div><div class="ds-work-card--work-information"><h1 class="ds-work-card--work-title">The Mereological Agent and the Evolution of Complexity: A Disquisition on Emergent Intentionality in Evolutionary Systems</h1><div class="ds-work-card--work-authors ds-work-card--detail"><a class="ds-work-card--author js-wsj-grid-card-author ds2-5-body-md ds2-5-body-link" data-author-id="344978" href="https://independent.academia.edu/PlacideSevere"><img alt="Profile image of Placide S Severe" class="ds-work-card--author-avatar" src="https://0.academia-photos.com/344978/8002385/159739476/s65_placide.severe.jpg" />Placide S Severe</a></div><p class="ds-work-card--work-abstract ds-work-card--detail ds2-5-body-md">Throughout biological history, life has evolved from simple, unicellular organisms to the intricate web of biodiversity that spans modern ecosystems. From the Cambrian Explosion, which saw the rapid diversification of life forms, to the development of complex human societies, evolution appears to be on a trajectory toward increasing complexity. However, this apparent directionality raises an important question: Why does evolution produce such complexity? What drives the formation of not just complex organisms, but entire ecosystems characterized by interdependence and synergy? In this disquisition, we will explore a novel conceptual framework termed The Mereological Agent, which offers an explanation for why evolution seems to favor the emergence of complex systems. The concept of the Mereological Agent posits that complexity arises from the convergence, interrelationship, and concomitance of systems, leading to what appears to be intentionality, even in systems without conscious direction. Despite lacking intrinsic intention, these systems exhibit a kind of emergent intentionality-a functional imperative to produce and sustain increasingly complex systems. This functional imperative, as I will argue, is evident in biological evolution and the creation of ecosystems.</p><div class="ds-work-card--button-container"><button class="ds2-5-button js-swp-download-button" data-signup-modal="{"location":"continue-reading-button--work-card","attachmentId":119220569,"attachmentType":"pdf","workUrl":"https://www.academia.edu/124953638/The_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems"}">See full PDF</button><button class="ds2-5-button ds2-5-button--secondary js-swp-download-button" data-signup-modal="{"location":"download-pdf-button--work-card","attachmentId":119220569,"attachmentType":"pdf","workUrl":"https://www.academia.edu/124953638/The_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems"}"><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 20px" translate="no">download</span>Download PDF</button></div></div></div></div><div data-auto_select="false" data-client_id="331998490334-rsn3chp12mbkiqhl6e7lu2q0mlbu0f1b" data-doc_id="119220569" data-landing_url="https://www.academia.edu/124953638/The_Mereological_Agent_and_the_Evolution_of_Complexity_A_Disquisition_on_Emergent_Intentionality_in_Evolutionary_Systems" data-login_uri="https://www.academia.edu/registrations/google_one_tap" data-moment_callback="onGoogleOneTapEvent" id="g_id_onload"></div><div class="ds-top-related-works--grid-container"><div class="ds-related-content--container ds-top-related-works--container"><h2 class="ds-related-content--heading">Related papers</h2><div class="ds-related-work--container js-wsj-grid-card" data-collection-position="0" data-entity-id="70386742" data-sort-order="default"><a class="ds-related-work--title js-wsj-grid-card-title ds2-5-body-md ds2-5-body-link" href="https://www.academia.edu/70386742/Synergistic_selection_A_Darwinian_frame_for_the_evolution_of_complexity">Synergistic selection": A Darwinian frame for the evolution of complexity</a><div class="ds-related-work--metadata"><a class="js-wsj-grid-card-author ds2-5-body-sm ds2-5-body-link" data-author-id="8579705" href="https://elte.academia.edu/EorsSzathmary">Eors Szathmary</a></div><p class="ds-related-work--metadata ds2-5-body-xs">Journal of theoretical biology, 2015</p><p class="ds-related-work--abstract ds2-5-body-sm">Non-Darwinian theories about the emergence and evolution of complexity date back at least to Lamarck, and include those of Herbert Spencer and the &quot;emergent evolution&quot; theorists of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In recent decades, this approach has mostly been espoused by various practitioners in biophysics and complexity theory. However, there is a Darwinian alternative - in essence, an economic theory of complexity - proposing that synergistic effects of various kinds have played an important causal role in the evolution of complexity, especially in the &quot;major transitions&quot;. This theory is called the &quot;synergism hypothesis&quot;. We posit that otherwise unattainable functional advantages arising from various cooperative phenomena have been favored over time in a dynamic that the late John Maynard Smith characterized and modeled as &quot;synergistic selection&quot;. 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This cognitive enterprise has eventually led to the creation of synthetic intelligence in the form of complex computing and artificial agents, whose purported purpose is to elucidate the workings of human biology and consciousness, automate tasks, and develop interventions for disease. However, much of the expensive research efforts invested in understanding complex natural systems has resulted in limited rewards for treatment of disease. This paper proposes the novel 'causal biomimesis' hypothesis: with respect to the relationship between humans and artificial life, the virtually inevitable intrinsic evolutionary consequence of tool-making and biomimetic efforts—and the capacity for objective thought and the scientific method itself—is the full-scale replication of human cognitive functionality, agency, and potentially consciousness in silico. This self-replication transpires through a cycle of anthropogenic biomimetic auto-catalysis driven by instrumental cognition—from objective reasoning in hominin tool-maker through to post-biological reproduction by synthetic agents— and is self-organized and co-enacted between agent and the produced artefactual aggregates. In light of this radical hypothesis, existential and ethical implications are considered for further exploration. At present, rational human intelligence has reached a major milestone in its ability to create artificial intelligence (AI). The proliferation of AI has led to promises regarding its capabilities, which across the spectrum of opinion, appear to incite equal parts optimism and apprehension. There is an increasing interest in and adoption of artificial agents, such as robotic nurses and assistants for humans, meaning that the future holds a more ubiquitous presence of AI in rather plain sight that is in more intimate relationship with humans. The implications of AI for humanity implore more careful examinations of the motivations behind the development of AI. The field of biomimetics, developing technologies based the distillation of principles from the study of biological systems, invites a broader and deeper understanding of biology and cognition in order to more fully inform the technological development of synthetic agents. Scrutiny into the origins and workings of cognition in conscious agents, particularly Homo sapiens, can not only inform the construction of synthetic architectures, but may also reveal the inchoate origins of 'artificiality' within biological life itself. This paper will excavate the evolutionary development of cognition that precedes and underpins the observed drive in humans to develop artificial intelligence and agents. This examination will be juxtaposed with the commonly cited rational justifications for the development of synthetic life, and the evolutionary consequence of human cognitive capacities will be offered. The terms AI, artificial life, synthetic life, synthetic agents, and so forth will be used relatively interchangeably; the focus herein is the broader picture of human-AI evolution rather than the technical differences between those terms. This paper makes a case for Homo sapiens as an intermediate step in the evolution of life, based on a novel hypothesis about the evolutionary process itself, and serves as a theoretico-philosophical touchstone for further inquiry, research, and debate.</p><div class="ds-related-work--ctas"><button class="ds2-5-text-link ds2-5-text-link--inline js-swp-download-button" data-signup-modal="{"location":"wsj-grid-card-download-pdf-modal","work_title":"Causal biomimesis: self-replication as evolutionary consequence","attachmentId":53242937,"attachmentType":"pdf","work_url":"https://www.academia.edu/33154910/Causal_biomimesis_self_replication_as_evolutionary_consequence","alternativeTracking":true}"><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 18px" translate="no">download</span><span class="ds2-5-text-link__content">Download free PDF</span></button><a class="ds2-5-text-link ds2-5-text-link--inline js-wsj-grid-card-view-pdf" href="https://www.academia.edu/33154910/Causal_biomimesis_self_replication_as_evolutionary_consequence"><span class="ds2-5-text-link__content">View PDF</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 18px" translate="no">chevron_right</span></a></div></div><div class="ds-related-work--container js-wsj-grid-card" data-collection-position="7" data-entity-id="95428246" data-sort-order="default"><a class="ds-related-work--title js-wsj-grid-card-title ds2-5-body-md ds2-5-body-link" href="https://www.academia.edu/95428246/Complexity_and_the_Evolution_of_Consciousness">Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness</a><div class="ds-related-work--metadata"><a class="js-wsj-grid-card-author ds2-5-body-sm ds2-5-body-link" data-author-id="44262267" href="https://reading.academia.edu/WalterVeit">Walter Veit</a></div><p class="ds-related-work--metadata ds2-5-body-xs">Biological Theory, 2022</p><p class="ds-related-work--abstract ds2-5-body-sm">This article introduces and defends the “pathological complexity thesis” as a hypothesis about the evolutionary origins of minimal consciousness, or sentience, that connects the study of animal consciousness closely with work in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. I argue that consciousness is an adaptive solution to a design problem that led to the extinction of complex multicellular animal life following the Avalon explosion and that was subsequently solved during the Cambrian explosion. This is the economic trade-off problem of having to deal with a complex body with high degrees of freedom, what I call “pathological complexity.” By modeling the explosion of this computational complexity using the resources of state-based behavioral and life history theory we will be able to provide an evolutionary bottom-up framework to make sense of subjective experience and its function in nature by paying close attention to the ecological lifestyles of different animals.</p><div class="ds-related-work--ctas"><button class="ds2-5-text-link ds2-5-text-link--inline js-swp-download-button" data-signup-modal="{"location":"wsj-grid-card-download-pdf-modal","work_title":"Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness","attachmentId":97613907,"attachmentType":"pdf","work_url":"https://www.academia.edu/95428246/Complexity_and_the_Evolution_of_Consciousness","alternativeTracking":true}"><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 18px" translate="no">download</span><span class="ds2-5-text-link__content">Download free PDF</span></button><a class="ds2-5-text-link ds2-5-text-link--inline js-wsj-grid-card-view-pdf" href="https://www.academia.edu/95428246/Complexity_and_the_Evolution_of_Consciousness"><span class="ds2-5-text-link__content">View PDF</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 18px" translate="no">chevron_right</span></a></div></div><div class="ds-related-work--container js-wsj-grid-card" data-collection-position="8" data-entity-id="832509" data-sort-order="default"><a class="ds-related-work--title js-wsj-grid-card-title ds2-5-body-md ds2-5-body-link" href="https://www.academia.edu/832509/The_non_decreasing_character_of_complexity_A_biological_approach">The non-decreasing character of complexity: A biological approach</a><div class="ds-related-work--metadata"><a class="js-wsj-grid-card-author ds2-5-body-sm ds2-5-body-link" data-author-id="180619" href="https://boun.academia.edu/YagmurDenizhan">Yagmur Denizhan</a></div><p class="ds-related-work--metadata ds2-5-body-xs">Proceedings of the Third International Conference on …, 1999</p><div class="ds-related-work--ctas"><button class="ds2-5-text-link ds2-5-text-link--inline js-swp-download-button" data-signup-modal="{"location":"wsj-grid-card-download-pdf-modal","work_title":"The non-decreasing character of complexity: A biological approach","attachmentId":4988609,"attachmentType":"doc","work_url":"https://www.academia.edu/832509/The_non_decreasing_character_of_complexity_A_biological_approach","alternativeTracking":true}"><span class="material-symbols-outlined" style="font-size: 18px" translate="no">download</span><span class="ds2-5-text-link__content">Download free PDF</span></button><a class="ds2-5-text-link ds2-5-text-link--inline js-wsj-grid-card-view-pdf" href="https://www.academia.edu/832509/The_non_decreasing_character_of_complexity_A_biological_approach"><span class="ds2-5-text-link__content">View PDF</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined" 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