event

Cambrian explosion

Facts (16)

Sources

Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness | Biological Theory link.springer.com Springer Sep 14, 2022 16 facts

claimThe author contends that the solution to the problem of action, defined as functional activity produced by biological agents, caused the Cambrian explosion.

claimThe author proposes that "pathological complexity" offers a mathematical framework to naturalize hedonic evaluation as a proximate psychological utility that helped organisms maximize fitness during the Cambrian explosion.

quoteVeit proposes that consciousness arose as a means for organisms to deal with what he calls pathological complexity. We assume that what he has in mind is the kind of complexity that arises in coevolution and evolutionary arms races, say of the predator–prey kind, which became acute with the evolution of large, image-forming eyes, hence his reference to the Cambrian Explosion. (Merker et al. 2022, p. 55)

claimKeijzer and Arnellos (2017) argue that nervous systems evolved to allow for the coordination of an organism’s body, a development that must have occurred long before the Cambrian Explosion.

referenceGinsburg and Jablonka (2019) identify the Cambrian explosion as the driver of 'unlimited associative learning' (UAL), which they define as a special form of associative learning with a vast openness for new complex behavior and a transition marker for the presence of consciousness.

perspectiveWalter Veit argues that the origins of consciousness are not located in the new dimension of interaction during the Cambrian explosion, but rather in the evolution of sensory experience and the origins of other minds thinking.

claimThe Cambrian explosion succeeded because organisms evolved 'Benthamite' traits, utilizing a common currency of hedonic valence to facilitate efficient action selection.

claimShen et al. (2008) argued that an "Avalon Explosion" occurred in the Ediacaran morphospace, mirroring the Cambrian explosion, based on quantitative data analysis of fossil evidence.

claimConsciousness evolved during the Cambrian explosion alongside a new evaluative animal lifestyle characteristic of large parts of the Metazoan branch of life.

claimThe Cambrian explosion led to an increase in behavioral flexibility and a corresponding explosion in the pathological complexity of selecting the correct action at the right time, which was addressed through the evolution of a proximate common currency of hedonic valence.

claimThe evolution of subjective utility maximizers occurred at the verge of the Cambrian explosion, serving as the foundation upon which more complex representational capacities like interoception and emotions were built.

claimSome scientists and philosophers, including Trestman (2013), Feinberg and Mallatt (2016), Godfrey-Smith (2016), and Ginsburg and Jablonka (2019), have suggested that subjectivity, agency, and other capacities related to consciousness may provide a partial explanation for the Cambrian explosion.

claimConsciousness is an adaptive solution to the economic trade-off problem of managing a complex body with high degrees of freedom, a problem the author terms 'pathological complexity'. This design problem led to the extinction of complex multicellular animal life following the Avalon explosion and was subsequently solved during the Cambrian explosion.

claimThe Cambrian explosion, which occurred 541 million years ago, represents the most rapid and puzzling explosion of complexity in the history of life and is the period where many basic metazoan body plans originated.

claimThe Cambrian explosion, occurring over a 20 million-year timespan, resulted in the development of complex multicellular body plans, nervous systems, behavioral repertoires, and sensing modes in several lineages that are considered likely candidates for subjective experience.

claimStephen J. Gould argued that the Cambrian explosion constituted the highest degree of diversity in animal life forms, making it maximally disparate.