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Cited by 27Evolution and Paleontology StudiesPhilosophy and History of ScienceLanguage and cultural evolution

Convergent minds: the evolution of cognitive complexity in nature

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Powell, Russell, Mikhalevich, Irina, Logan, Corina, Clayton, Nicola S.·2017·Interface Focus
DOI 10.1098/rsfs.2017.0029PMC PMC5413899
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Abstract

Stephen Jay Gould (1989/2002) argued that replaying the ‘tape of life’ would result in radically different evolutionary outcomes. Gould’s ‘radical contingency thesis’ focused primarily on animal morphology, and in particular on the specific parameters of animal body plans, which, he argued, reflect but a small fraction of the larger set of equally functional morphological possibilities that for historically contingent reasons were never actualised. Were the tape replayed from different crucial junctures in the history of life, Gould contended, animal evolution would be channeled into radically different pathways, its topography would assume a markedly different shape, and many properties associated with extant animal life would never have arisen. Imagine how the history of animal life would have unfolded, for example, were it not for the improbable survival of Pikaia, the understated ancestor to all modern vertebrates, or for the fortuitous survival of the lobe-finned fish that would eventually give rise to tetrapods, or for the meteor-induced extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs whose emptied niches permitted the unlikely radiation and macro-faunal dominance of mammals. These examples suggest that the radical contingency thesis is best interpreted as a modal thesis, or a claim about the stability of certain evolutionary outcomes across nomically possible worlds. In particular, it is a claim about the causal dependency of evolutionary outcomes on small changes in initial conditions, such as quirky survival and extinction or mutation events, particularly in the early stages of the evolution of higher taxa (Powell forthcoming; Powell and Mariscal 2015). In addition, unpredictability (McGhee 2013; Beatty 2006), stochasticity (Turner 2012), path-dependency (Desjardins 2011), developmental constraints (Powell and Mariscal 2015), and the lack of laws governing the evolution of phyla-distinguishing morphology (Haufe 2015) are also important dimensions of the Gouldian view of life.

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  • One implication of shared neural architectures is the potential for convergent minds shaped by evolution.

    “One implication of these shared architectures is the potential for convergent minds shaped by evolution [281–284].”

    From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [282]

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Authors
Powell, R., Mikhalevich, I., Logan, C., & Clayton, N. S.
Affiliations
  • Boston University (US)
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Interface Focus
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2017-04-21
Volume
7
Issue
3
Pages
20170029
ISSN
  • 2042-8898 (ISSN-L)
  • 2042-8901
DOI
10.1098/rsfs.2017.0029
PMC
PMC5413899
OpenAlex
W2605401427
Cited by
27
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2
FWCI
0.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Interface Focus (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo
Funders
  • Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship
  • John Templeton Foundation (43160)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
Keywords
Stephen Jay Gould, evolutionary contingency, convergent evolution, cognitive complexity, animal cognition, evolutionary pathways, developmental constraints, path dependence, animal morphology

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