The meaning and origin of goal-directedness: a dynamical systems perspective
The meaning and origin of goal-directedness: a dynamical systems perspective
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DOI：
10.1093/biolinnean/blac060
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发表时间：
2022-06-14
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
Heylighen, Francis
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Heylighen, Francis
本文试图澄清目标导向性的概念，该概念经常被误解为与标准因果机制不一致。我们首先注意到，目标导向并不预设任何神秘的力量，例如智能设计、生机论、有意识的意图或向后因果关系。然后，我们回顾了通过更多操作特征来定义目标导向性的尝试：平等性、可塑性、持久性、一致行动和负面反馈。我们证明，所有这些特征都可以通过将目标解释为动力系统的远离平衡吸引子来解释。这意味着，使系统偏离其目标导向轨迹的扰动会自动得到补偿——至少只要系统保持在同一吸引力盆内。我们认为，具有必要弹性程度的吸引子和盆地往往会在复杂的反应网络中自组织，从而产生自我维持的“组织”。这些可以被视为第一个目标导向系统的抽象模型，从而也是生命起源的抽象模型。
This paper attempts to clarify the notion of goal-directedness, which is often misunderstood as being inconsistent with standard causal mechanisms. We first note that goal-directedness does not presuppose any mysterious forces, such as intelligent design, vitalism, conscious intention or backward causation. We then review attempts at defining goal-directedness by means of more operational characteristics: equifinality, plasticity, persistence, concerted action and negative feedback. We show that all these features can be explained by interpreting a goal as a far-from-equilibrium attractor of a dynamical system. This implies that perturbations that make the system deviate from its goal-directed trajectory are automatically compensated-at least as long as the system stays within the same basin of attraction. We argue that attractors and basins with the necessary degree of resilience tend to self-organize in complex reaction networks, thus producing self-maintaining 'organizations'. These can be seen as an abstract model of the first goal-directed systems, and thus of the origin of life.