Competency in Navigating Arbitrary Spaces as an Invariant for Analyzing Cognition in Diverse Embodiments
Open accessAbstract
One of the most salient features of life is its capacity to handle novelty and namely to thrive and adapt to new circumstances and changes in both the environment and internal components. An understanding of this capacity is central to several fields: the evolution of form and function, the design of effective strategies for biomedicine, and the creation of novel life forms via chimeric and bioengineering technologies. Here, we review instructive examples of living organisms solving diverse problems and propose competent navigation in arbitrary spaces as an invariant for thinking about the scaling of cognition during evolution. We argue that our innate capacity to recognize agency and intelligence in unfamiliar guises lags far behind our ability to detect it in familiar behavioral contexts. The multi-scale competency of life is essential to adaptive function, potentiating evolution and providing strategies for top-down control (not micromanagement) to address complex disease and injury. We propose an observer-focused viewpoint that is agnostic about scale and implementation, illustrating how evolution pivoted similar strategies to explore and exploit metabolic, transcriptional, morphological, and finally 3D motion spaces. By generalizing the concept of behavior, we gain novel perspectives on evolution, strategies for system-level biomedical interventions, and the construction of bioengineered intelligences. This framework is a first step toward relating to intelligence in highly unfamiliar embodiments, which will be essential for progress in artificial intelligence and regenerative medicine and for thriving in a world increasingly populated by synthetic, bio-robotic, and hybrid beings.
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Self-citationPio‐Lopez, L., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · Drug Discovery Today · doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2023.103585 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationA beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness.
Laukkonen, R., Friston, K., & Chandaria, S. (2025) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106296 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Shreesha, L., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e25010131 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationAgency, Goal-Directed Behavior, and Part-Whole Relationships in Biological Systems
Watson, R. A. R. (2023) · Biological Theory · doi:10.1007/s13752-023-00447-z · Cited by 21 · see citing works
The energetics of cellular life transitions
Monzel, A. S., Levin, M. G., & Picard, M. A. (2023) · Life Metabolism · doi:10.1093/lifemeta/load051 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationRamstead, M. J. D., Albarracin, M., Kiefer, A. B., Klein, B., Fields, C., Friston, K. J., & Safron, A. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/6afs3 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Self-citationPrincipled Limitations on Self-Representation for Generic Physical Systems
Fields, C., Glazebrook, J. F., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e26030194 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationO'Brien, T., Stremmel, J., Pio‐Lopez, L., McMillen, P. T., Rasmussen-Ivey, C. R., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · Digital Discovery · doi:10.1039/d3dd00185g · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationAssociative conditioning in gene regulatory network models increases integrative causal emergence
Pigozzi, F., Goldstein, A., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-025-08411-2 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationPio‐Lopez, L., Bischof, J., LaPalme, J. V., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · Interface Focus · doi:10.1098/rsfs.2022.0072 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationNatural Induction: Spontaneous Adaptive Organisation without Natural Selection
Buckley, C. L., Lewens, T., Levin, M. G., Millidge, B., Tschantz, A., & Watson, R. A. R. (2024) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e26090765 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationDiscussions of machine versus living intelligence need more clarity
Rouleau, N., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · Nature Machine Intelligence · doi:10.1038/s42256-024-00955-y · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationFrom reinforcement learning to agency: Frameworks for understanding basal cognition
Seifert, G., Sealander, A., Marzen, S., & Levin, M. (2024) · BioSystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.105107 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationInformation integration during bioelectric regulation of morphogenesis of the embryonic frog brain
Manicka, S., Pai, V. P., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108398 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationWhat does evolution make? Learning in living lineages and machines
Hartl, B., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Trends in Genetics · doi:10.1016/j.tig.2025.04.002 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationFields, C., Fabrocini, F., Friston, K. J., Glazebrook, J. F., Hazan, H., Levin, M. G., & Marcianò, A. (2023) · IEEE Transactions on Molecular Biological and Multi-Scale Communications · doi:10.1109/tmbmc.2023.3272158 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Self-citationShreesha, L., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.150396 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationOpen problems in synthetic multicellularity
Solé, R. V., Pueyo, N. C., Pla, J., García‐Ojalvo, J., Montserrat, N., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · npj Systems Biology and Applications · doi:10.1038/s41540-024-00477-8 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationHartl, B., Risi, S., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e26070532 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, T., Goldstein, A., & Levin, M. G. (2024) · Adaptive Behavior · doi:10.1177/10597123241269740 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationNested Selves: Self‐Organization and Shared Markov Blankets in Prenatal Development in Humans
Ciaunica, A., Levin, M. G., Rosas, F. E., & Friston, K. J. (2023) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/tops.12717 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationThe role of quantum mechanics in cognition-based evolution
Marshall, P. (2023) · Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2023.04.007 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Neural cellular automata: Applications to biology and beyond classical AI
Hartl, B., Levin, M., & Pio‐Lopez, L. (2025) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2025.11.010 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationThoughts and thinkers: On the complementarity between objects and processes
Fields, C., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2025.01.008 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationToward a nomenclature consensus for diverse intelligent systems: Call for collaboration
Kagan, B. J., Mahlis, M., Bhat, A., Bongard, J., Cole, V. M., Corlett, P., Gyngell, C., Härtung, T., Jupp, B., Levin, M. G., et al. (2024) · The Innovation · doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100658 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Brain is not Mental! Coupling Neuronal and Immune Cellular Processing in Human OrganismsPreprint
Ciaunica, A., & Levin, M. G. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/fgcy5 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationFields, C., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Communicative & Integrative Biology · doi:10.1080/19420889.2025.2466017 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationToward an ethics of autopoietic technology: Stress, care, and intelligence
Witkowski, O., Doctor, T. H., Solomonova, E., Duane, B., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.104964 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationThe free energy principle induces intracellular compartmentalization
Fields, C. (2024) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.150070 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationLiving cognition and the nature of organisms
Just, B. B., & de Farías, S. T. (2024) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105356 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Disgust as a primary emotional system and its clinical relevance
Tolchinsky, A., Ellis, G., Levin, M. G., Kaňková, Š., & Burgdorf, J. S. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1454774 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Yin and Yang of Breast Cancer: Ion Channels as Determinants of Left–Right Functional Differences
Masuelli, S., Real, S., McMillen, P. T., Oudin, M. J., Levin, M. G., & Roqué, M. (2023) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms241311121 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationAn Information Framework of Intelligence
Hochberg, M. (2025) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105548 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Cognition all the way down 2.0: neuroscience beyond neurons in the diverse intelligence era
Chis-Ciure, R., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-05319-6 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationArtificial Intelligences: A Bridge Toward Diverse Intelligence and Humanity's Future
Levin, M. G. (2025) · Advanced Intelligent Systems · doi:10.1002/aisy.202401034 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationEvolution by natural induction
Watson, R. A. R., Levin, M. G., & Lewens, T. (2025) · Interface Focus · doi:10.1098/rsfs.2025.0025 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationA case for aneural cognition: E. coli and its cognitive repertoire
Just, B. B., & de Farías, S. T. (2025) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105645 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Cervera, J., Levin, M. G., & Mafé, S. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-79087-7 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationPai, V. P., Pio‐Lopez, L., Sperry, M. M., Erickson, P., Tayyebi, P., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-025-08086-9 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationVarley, T. F., Pai, V. P., Grasso, C., Lunshof, J. E., Levin, M. G., & Bongard, J. (2025) · Communicative & Integrative Biology · doi:10.1080/19420889.2025.2568307 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationLevin, M. G. (2024) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/yq9xe · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationBioinspired Engineering beyond Homeostasis
Moreddu, R. (2025) · Advanced Intelligent Systems · doi:10.1002/aisy.202500435 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Bioelectric characterization of senescing human keratinocytes
Sediqi, H., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2025.113275 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationExploring the Behavior of Bioelectric Circuits Using Evolution Heuristic Search
Hazan, H., & Levin, M. G. (2022) · Bioelectricity · doi:10.1089/bioe.2022.0033 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationMajor transitions in the physiological machinery of cognition
Just, B. B., & de Farías, S. T. (2025) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105517 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Control flow in active inference systemsPreprint
Fields, C., Fabrocini, F., Friston, K. J., Glazebrook, J. F., Hazan, H., Levin, M. G., & Marcianò, A. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/8e4ra · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationNested Selves: Self-Organisation and Shared Markov Blankets in Prenatal Development in HumansPreprint
Ciaunica, A., Levin, M. G., Rosas, F. E., & Friston, K. J. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/g8q5d · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationMachines all the way up and cognition all the way down: Updating the machine metaphor in biology
Levin, M., & Watson, R. (2026) · Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology · doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2026.103668 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationLevin, M., & Resnik, D. B. (2026) · Biological Theory · doi:10.1007/s13752-025-00523-6 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationHansali, S., Pio‐Lopez, L., LaPalme, J. V., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · IEEE Transactions on Molecular Biological and Multi-Scale Communications · doi:10.1109/tmbmc.2025.3575233 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationPio‐Lopez, L., Hartl, B., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Advanced Science · doi:10.1002/advs.202509872 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationSphoța Theory of Knowing and Its Implications for Higher Education
Prabakaran, M. (2023) · Higher Education for the Future · doi:10.1177/23476311231173487 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Grodstein, J., McMillen, P. T., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology · doi:10.3389/fcell.2023.1087650 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationBlattner, M., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · Bioelectricity · doi:10.1089/bioe.2023.0032 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationPai, V. P., Pio‐Lopez, L., Sperry, M. M., Erickson, P., Tayyebi, P., & Levin, M. (2024) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/n2jre · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationLevin, M., & Resnik, D. B. (2026) · Biological Theory · doi:10.1007/s13752-025-00524-5 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationCognition as a global biological process
Just, B. B., & de Farías, S. T. (2026) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2026.105851 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Discussion on the Relationship between Computation, Information, Cognition, and Their Embodiment
Dodig-Crnković, G., & Miłkowski, M. (2023) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e25020310 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
O'Brien, T., Stremmel, J., Pio‐Lopez, L., McMillen, P. T., Rasmussen-Ivey, C. R., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/269e5 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationKroupin, I., & Zeng, T. C. (2024) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/mxfcv · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Evolutionary Implications of Multi-Scale IntelligencePreprint
Hartl, B., Risi, S., & Levin, M. (2024) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/sp9kf · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationIntegrating regenerative biology with developmental psychobiology to understand behavioral recovery
Varholick, J. A. (2025) · Developmental Dynamics · doi:10.1002/dvdy.70021 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Shreesha, L., Pigozzi, F., Goldstein, A. J., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · IEEE Transactions on Molecular Biological and Multi-Scale Communications · doi:10.1109/tmbmc.2025.3562358 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationde Jager, S. (2025) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2025.2571045 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Value saturation: Architecture of subjective necessity
Trukovich, J. J. (2025) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105642 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Pio‐Lopez, L., & Levin, M. G. (2025) · Aging Cell · doi:10.1111/acel.70305 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationFotowat, H., O’Neill, L., Pio‐Lopez, L., Sperry, M. M., Erickson, P., Lin, T. G., & Levin, M. G. (2026) · Advanced Science · doi:10.1002/advs.202508967 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationHartl, B., Pio‐Lopez, L., Fields, C., & Levin, M. G. (2026) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2026.06.009 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationMcMillen, P. T., & Levin, M. G. (2026) · Developmental Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.08.001 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationBrains and where else? Mapping theories of consciousness to unconventional embodiments
Rouleau, N., & Levin, M. G. (2026) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences · doi:10.1098/rsta.2025.0082 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationVeloz, T. (2025) · Frontiers in Cognition · doi:10.3389/fcogn.2025.1618381 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Transplantation of fragments from different planaria: A bioelectrical model for head regeneration
Cervera, J., Manzanares, J. A., Levin, M. G., & Mafé, S. (2022) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2022.111356 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Brain is not Mental! Coupling Neuronal and Immune Cellular Processing in Human OrganismsPreprint
Ciaunica, A., Shmeleva, E. V., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/mhxt6 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, T., Goldstein, A., & Levin, M. G. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/e5d4u · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Fields, C., & Levin, M.
- Affiliations
- Tufts University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Levin, Michael
- Venue
- Entropy
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-06-12
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 819
- ISSN
- 1099-4300 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9222757
- OpenAlex
- W4282568588
- Semantic Scholar
- c9fb788bdbf0d5d449e4c9f344cd9575bb39c367
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 230
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 10
- FWCI
- 13.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Entropy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF0606, 62212)
- John Templeton Foundation (TWCF0606, 62212)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Systems and Dynamics
- Keywords
- cognitive evolution, agency detection, top-down control, bioengineering, synthetic organisms, regenerative medicine, artificial intelligence, observer perspective
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