Biology in the 21st century: Natural selection is cognitive selection

• Published in: Progress in biophysics and molecular biology 2024-08, Vol.190, p.170-184
• Main Authors: Miller, William B., Baluška, František, Reber, Arthur S., Slijepčević, Predrag
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cellular basis of consciousness; Cognition; Cognition-based evolution; Cognitive selection; Information; Natural learning; Neo-darwinism; Senome
• ISSN: 0079-6107; 1873-1732; 1873-1732
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2024.05.001

Natural selection has a formal definition as the natural process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups best adjusted to their environment, leading to the perpetuation of those genetic qualities best suited to that organism's environmental niche. Within conventional Neo-Darwinism, the largest source of those variations that can be selected is presumed to be secondary to random genetic mutations. As these arise, natural selection sustains adaptive traits in the context of a 'struggle for existence'. Consequently, in the 20th century, natural selection was generally portrayed as the primary evolutionary driver. The 21st century offers a comprehensive alternative to Neo-Darwinian dogma within Cognition-Based Evolution. The substantial differences between these respective evolutionary frameworks have been most recently articulated in a revision of Crick's Central Dogma, a former centerpiece of Neo-Darwinism. The argument is now advanced that the concept of natural selection should also be comprehensively reappraised. Cognitive selection is presented as a more precise term better suited to 21st century biology. Since cognition began with life's origin, natural selection represents cognitive selection.