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Teleonomy
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==Relationship to evolution== The concept of teleonomy was largely developed by Mayr and Pittendrigh to separate biological evolution from teleology. Pittendrigh's purpose was to enable biologists who had become overly cautious about goal-oriented language to have a way of discussing the goals and orientations of an organism's behaviors without inadvertently invoking teleology. Mayr was even more explicit, saying that while teleonomy certainly operates on the level of organisms, the process of evolution itself is necessarily non-teleonomic. {{blockquote|Mayr says, 'The existence of complex codes of information in the DNA of the germ plasm permits teleonomic purposiveness. On the other hand, evolutionary research has found no evidence whatsoever for a "goal-seeking" of evolutionary lines, as postulated in that kind of teleology which sees "plan and design" in nature. The harmony of the living universe, so far as it exists, is an a posteriori product of natural selection.<ref name="causeandeffect" />}} This attitude towards the role of teleonomy in the evolutionary process is the consensus view of the [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.3998/ptb.6959004.0002.003 |author=Merlin, F. |title=Evolutionary Chance Mutation: A Defense of the Modern Synthesis' Consensus View |journal= Philosophy and Theory in Biology|volume=2 |issue=20170609 |date=2010|doi-access=free }}</ref> Evolution largely hoards [[hindsight]], as variations unwittingly make "predictions" about structures and functions which could successfully cope with the future, and which participate in a process of natural selection that culls the unfit, leaving the fit to the next generation. Information accumulates about functions and structures that are successful, exploiting [[feedback]] from the environment via the selection of fitter coalitions of structures and functions. [[Robert Rosen (theoretical biologist)|Robert Rosen]] has described these features as an [[anticipatory system]] which builds an internal model based on past and possible future states.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} In 1962, Grace A. de Laguna's "The Role of Teleonomy in Evolution" attempted to show how different stages of evolution were characterized by different types of teleonomy.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/287855 |author=de Laguna |author2=Grace A. |title=The Role of Teleonomy in Evolution |journal=Philosophy of Science |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=117โ131 |date=April 1962 |jstor=186539|s2cid=224844288 }}</ref> de Laguna points out that humans have oriented teleonomy so that the teleonomic goal is not restricted to the reproduction of humans, but also to cultural ideals. In recent years, a few biologists believe that the separation of teleonomy from the process of evolution has gone too far. [[Peter Corning]] notes that behavior, which is a teleonomic trait, is responsible for the construction of biological niches, which is an agent of selection. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to say that there was no role for teleonomy in the process of evolution, since teleonomy dictates the fitness landscape according to which organisms are selected.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/bij.12061 |author=Corning, P. |title=Evolution 'on purpose': how behaviour has shaped the evolutionary process |journal=Journal of the Linnaean Society |volume=112 |issue=2 |pages=242โ260 |date=2013|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Holmes, B. |title=Life's purpose: Can animals guide their own evolution? |journal=New Scientist |date=2013}}</ref> Corning calls this phenomenon "teleonomic selection". Additionally, recent research has demonstrated that mutations are not random with reference to their value to the organism.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10441-023-09464-8 |author=Bartlett, J. |title=Random with Respect to Fitness or External Selection? An Important but Often Overlooked Distinction |journal=Acta Biotheoretica |volume=71 |issue=2 |date=2023 |page=12 |pmid=36933070 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04269-6 |vauthors = Monroe JG, Srikant T, Carbonell-Bejerano P, Becker C, Lensink M, Exposito-Alonso M, Klein M, Hildebrandt J, Neumann M, Kliebenstein D, Weng ML, Imbert E, ร gren J, Rutter MT, Fenster CB, Weigel D |journal=Nature |volume=602 |pages=101โ105 |date=2022 |title=Mutation bias reflects natural selection in Arabidopsis thaliana |issue = 7895 | pmid = 35022609 | pmc = 8810380 |bibcode = 2022Natur.602..101M }}</ref> Monroe and colleagues <ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Monroe |first1=J. Grey |last2=Murray |first2=Kevin D. |last3=Xian |first3=Wenfei |last4=Srikant |first4=Thanvi |last5=Carbonell-Bejerano |first5=Pablo |last6=Becker |first6=Claude |last7=Lensink |first7=Mariele |last8=Exposito-Alonso |first8=Moises |last9=Klein |first9=Marie |last10=Hildebrandt |first10=Julia |last11=Neumann |first11=Manuela |last12=Kliebenstein |first12=Daniel |last13=Weng |first13=Mao-Lun |last14=Imbert |first14=Eric |last15=ร gren |first15=Jon |date=July 2023 |title=Reply to: Re-evaluating evidence for adaptive mutation rate variation |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=619 |issue=7971 |pages=E57โE60 |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06315-x |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=10371858 |pmid=37495874|bibcode=2023Natur.619E..57M }}</ref> presented solid evidence that the most important genes undergo fewer mutations. If the phenomenon responsible for making the most important genes undergo fewer mutations remained an enigma, many would easily assume that there is some form of control systems (teleonomy) in the generation of mutations. Assuming this would be incorrect, as the phenomenon responsible for making genes more "protected" from mutations occurs completely automatically, without any teleonomic aspect.<ref>{{Citation |last=Silva |first=Rafael Barbosa Da |title=On the Resistance to Entropic Elevation of Genetic Information: The Solution to the Non-Randomness of Mutations With Reference to Their Essentiality |date=2024-04-16 |url=https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202404.1005/v1 |access-date=2024-04-18 |language=en |doi=10.20944/preprints202404.1005.v1|doi-access=free }}</ref>
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