Thanks, Gary R for the link and the abstract - a paper by two really excellent biosemioticians.
Just a first comment: The evolution is to increasing complexity of information processing. I think that step 2 - the prokaryote-eukaryote transformation, i.e., the privatization of the genome is THE vital step. It enabled the diversity of 'niche domains' where homogeneity was sidelined (it is vital in the prokaryote which has no individual ability to divert from the norm)...and with this privatization, diversity, as an interaction with the local envt..became enabled. 3. Division of labour - where energy-as-matter becomes specialized in a task and thus enables increased complexity of organization and interaction. 7. Active information gathering..yes...but what about non-agential information gathering? That is, my view is that organisms are in constant informational networking with their environment at the most elementary level - enabling the vital function of anticipation. That's basic - and perhaps can be found in #1: molecular recognition. It's interesting that the key and major transformations into increased complexity were the early ones. The later ones..6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11....all are found among the 'higher animals'. I certainly agree with the sidelining of the simplistic divison of meaning into the iconic, indexical, symbolic hierarchy....And - the focus on dicisigns instead... But where is the development of symbolic communication? Edwina ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary Richmond To: Peirce-L Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 2:10 AM Subject: [PEIRCE-L] The Great Chain of Semiosis. Investigating the Steps in the Evolution of Semiotic Competence http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12304-015-9247-y?wt_mc=socialmedia.facebook.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst Original Paper Biosemiotics First online: 10 September 2015 The Great Chain of Semiosis. Investigating the Steps in the Evolution of Semiotic Competencea.. Jesper Hoffmeyer b.. , Frederik Stjernfelt AbstractBased on the conception of life and semiosis as co-extensive an attempt is given to classify cognitive and communicative potentials of species according to the plasticity and articulatory sophistication they exhibit. A clear distinction is drawn between semiosis and perception, where perception is seen as a high-level activity, an integrated product of a multitude of semiotic interactions inside or between bodies. Previous attempts at finding progressive trends in evolution that might justify a scaling of species from primitive to advanced levels have not met with much success, but when evolution is considered in the light of semiosis such a scaling immediately catches the eye. The main purpose of this paper is to suggest a scaling of this progression in semiotic freedom into a series of distinct steps. The elleven steps suggested are: 1) molecular recognition, 2) prokaryote-eukaryote transformation (privatization of the genome), 3) division of labor in multicellular organisms (endosemiosis), 4) from irritability to phenotypic plasticity, 5) sense perception, 6) behavioral choice, 7) active information gathering, 8) collaboration, deception, 9) learning and social intelligence, 10) sentience, 11) consciousness. In light of this, the paper finally discusses the conceptual framework for biosemiotic evolution. The evolution of biosemiotic capabilities does not take the form of an ongoing composition of simple signs (icons, indices, signals, etc.) into composite wholes. Rather, it takes the shape of the increasing subdivision and control of a primitive, holophrastic perception-action circuit already committed to “proto-propositions” (dicisigns) reliably guiding action already in the most primitive species. KeywordsBiosemiotics Semiotic freedom Learning Social intelligence Consciousness Dicisigns Peirce Gary Richmond Philosophy and Critical Thinking Communication Studies LaGuardia College of the City University of New York C 745 718 482-5690 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------- PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to [email protected] . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L but to [email protected] with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm .
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