Holistic Darwinism: Synergy, Cybernetics, and the Bioeconomics of Evolution

Citation

Andrew, A.M. (2006), "Holistic Darwinism: Synergy, Cybernetics, and the Bioeconomics of Evolution", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2006.06735iae.001

Holistic Darwinism: Synergy, Cybernetics, and the Bioeconomics of Evolution

Holistic Darwinism: Synergy, Cybernetics, and the Bioeconomics of EvolutionPeter A. CorningUniversity of Chicago Press2005ISBN 0-226-11613-1 (Cloth); 0-226-11616-6 (Paper)504 pp., 9 line drawingsPaper $28.00 or £18.00;Cloth $70.00 or £44.50Review DOI 10.1108/03684920610688513

This is, as one of the reviewers quoted on the back cover says, a real tour-de-force. It introduces a new view of biological evolution, referred to either by the book's title or as post-neo-Darwinism. The new viewpoint accepts the essentials of existing evolutionary theory, denoted by neo-Darwinism since it depends on gene theory that was unknown to Darwin, but seen from a new perspective. The author says that his theory and the “selfish gene” approach are like different spatial interpretations of the Necker cube.

The missing element of neo-Darwinism is appreciation of the extent to which evolving organisms or systems enter into, and evolve within, synergies. Mention of this term brings to mind the work of Haken and his group, which is treated, though slightly dismissively, with the observation that much of it deals with physical systems without the cybernetic feedback and selection that characterises life. Quite a lot of other theory is similarly discussed and put aside, including Prigogine's dissipative structures and some other suggestions about mechanisms allowing emergence of structure that have been claimed to exhibit self-organisation. Corning points out that the emergence of structure is only useful in combination with a means of selection, and only the combination should be seen as self-organising. Dissipative structures are described as self-ordering. The meaning to be attached to “emergence” is also discussed at some length, with criticism of some existing usage.

Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis is a clear example of a postulated synergetic effect and is also treated, though again with some disparagement since Lovelock appears to suggest regulation arising spontaneously without the expected evolutionary features. Lovelock's “Daisyworld” model (Kybernetes, Vol. 25, No. 7/8, 1996, pp. 94-9) is not explicitly mentioned, which seems a pity since it is an example of synergetic regulation reduced to a simple level. (Lovelock shows how a planet's temperature might be maintained at a value suitable for life by supposing that its surface can be colonised by two species, one of them white and reflecting incident energy and the other black and absorbing it. The growth rates of both, as a function of temperature, are exactly alike. Such a combination can produce regulation of the planet's temperature at a value conducive to growth, with only the reasonable requirement that, when the planet is too warm, the white species benefits preferentially but not exclusively from the relative coolness where it grows, and conversely the black species benefits preferentially but not exclusively from the warmth it generates if the planet is too cold.)

Synergies are evident at many organisational levels, from the collaboration of cells in multicellular animals and of members of the super-organisms represented by bee and ant colonies. The constituent elements have evolved in ways that can only be accounted for within the synergy. Cells of the body, for example, take on specific roles as neurons, liver cells, etc. (The term “autopoiesis” does not occur in the index of the new book, and the treatment emphasises the difficulty of deciding at what level self-production could be said to apply.) Corning goes on to apply the theory to sociology and economics, and sees a market economy as the best model for evolutionary systems at all levels. Here again, however, he critically reviews existing economic theories and makes his own recommendation, favouring the appellation of “bioeconomics”.

The number of sources referred to is impressive, from Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas to Winston Churchill, along with 56 pages of references to more usual academic publications. This is clearly a highly original work, written with commendable independence of mind.

The book is divided into four parts. The first, with eight chapters, is entitled: “Synergy and Evolution: From the Origins of Life to Global Governance” and gives the essentials of the theory, with global government seen as the ultimate synergy. The remaining parts have three chapters each. Part two is on: “Bioeconomics and Evolution” and part three has the lengthy title: “From Thermodynamics and Information Theory to Thermoeconomics and Control Information”. As might be expected, there is critical appraisal of some glib associations of thermodynamics with biology, including that of Schrödinger.

The final chapter of part three contains a suggestion that the theory developed by Norbert Wiener in the famous book has been less effective than it might have been because it lacks a suitable definition of “information”. This is of course a topic currently receiving much attention and it is good to see that Gregory Bateson and Donald Mackay are referred to, among others. Part four is on: “Evolution and Ethics” and treats some aspects of democratic government and feelings about “fair shares”. A suggestion has been made elsewhere that humans are genetically programmed to accept a hierarchical social and political structure, which would suggest that there is no need to pursue democracy as a goal. Corning does not accept this, and quotes Winston Churchill as saying: “Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others”.

There is clearly a vast amount of challenging and valuable material here and this will certainly be a standard text among biologists, sociologists and economists. It is clearly and entertainingly written, without any mathematics but with precise and careful reasoning.

Alex M. AndrewReading University, Reading, UK