Natural Drift; a Simple Theory with Substantive Consequences

Natural drift replaces reductionist ideas as the spontaneous process that applies to the evolution of living beings and their medium, including us and our cultures. Ideas about evolution are dominated by a reductionist, “genecentric” ideology, according to which organisms are envisaged as phenotypic envelopes for genes. This is analogous to dualistic-spiritualist doctrines that consider the human body as the “incarnation” of an immaterial soul. Such ideas deny the systemic-dynamic constitution of living as well as entailing the ascription of several vitalistic suppositions such as “function,” “information” and “program” -- all of which lack operational meaning in the biological context. In this seminar I will elucidate an alternative view on evolution, namely natural drift, that I originally developed with Humberto Maturana. This view is based on the systemic nature of living which presupposes only that living beings are discrete dynamic systems that constitute themselves through their continuous interactions with their environment in a manner that conserves both their organization and their structural correspondence (adaptation) with their medium. This minimal theory has maximal consequences for the understanding of the historical changes of all living beings and their medium, inclusive of ourselves and the cultures that are part of our naturally drifting medium. Participants Bios: Jorge Mpodozis is a Full Professor in the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Chile, where he regularly teaches courses on Evolution, Neuroethology, Neuroanatomy, Evolution and Development, Neurosciences, and occasionally Philosophy of Biology. His research activities focus on Systems Neuroscience, specifically the development and evolution of sensory systems in amniotes, using anatomical and physiological approaches. He has directed numerous research projects in these areas and has graduated as a tutor to numerous Master's and Doctoral students at the University of Chile. He also maintains an active interest in epistemology and conceptual biology.