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Programmed Aging, Digital Genetics, and the Evolution of Acquisition Traits in Mammals
(scholar.google.com)
Summary made by Quivr/GPT-4
Assistant: This document is a non-peer-reviewed preprint about the theories of aging, genetics, and the evolution of certain traits in mammals. The author, Theodore Goldsmith, discusses the concept of "evolvability" and how it is not a fixed property of all living organisms, but rather a variable that can be influenced by an organism's design.
The document explains that the ability of an organism to evolve can be affected by specific design features. For instance, sexual reproduction requires a high degree of commonality between mating individuals, not only in terms of the information being conveyed but also the format of that information. Over time, if two populations of the same species are geographically isolated, differences in their formats could prevent cross-breeding, leading to speciation. This allows each isolated population to evolve a design that best fits its particular ecological situation.
The author also discusses the evolution of "acquisition traits," which are traits that increase in value over an organism's lifetime but are not genetically transmitted to descendants. Examples given include intelligence and digital language. Intelligence is described as having two components: the ability to acquire and store information about the external world (experience), and the ability to process and apply this information to alter behavior (intelligence). The author suggests that programmed aging in mammals may enhance the evolution of intelligence by compensating for the gradual increase in wisdom and consequent age-advantage that would otherwise occur.
Digital language, mainly a human capability, involves the transmission of information between individuals. Humans are born with the ability to develop or learn a language, but not with any particular language. This ability, along with the necessary evolved brain, mouth, and teeth, is acquired over time.
In summary, this document presents a detailed exploration of how certain design features of organisms can influence their ability to evolve, and how traits that increase in value over an organism's lifetime can play a significant role in this process.
User: Please go more in depth on the language aspect of the paper
Assistant: The paper discusses language as an acquisition trait, which means it's something that individuals acquire and accumulate throughout their life, but it's not genetically transmitted to descendants.
Language is primarily a human capability and involves the transmission of information (in digital form) between individuals. Humans are not born with a specific language, but they are born with the ability to develop or learn a language. This ability is facilitated by evolved physical features like the brain, mouth, teeth, tongue, vocal cord, and hearing.
The paper also mentions that very young children in groups can develop their own primitive language before learning their native language. Additionally, people continuously acquire new names of people, places, and things, and sometimes invent new words that may be widely adopted.
Language capability varies substantially between individuals and can be affected by certain diseases. It also allows for specialization, as different fields like sciences, industries, and activities have their own specialized language elements and terminology.
The paper also discusses the relationship between language and intelligence. The thought process is highly dependent on specific language capability and the efficiency and extent of that language. Learning languages and terminology can require a substantial fraction of an individual’s lifespan.
Lastly, the paper mentions that human languages continue to evolve and adapt, and collective intelligence therefore increases. This is because language is an acquisition trait that accumulates during life.