A retrospective on agency (Ep 100)
Big Biology
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The Importance of Intentionality in Adaptation
Cordes Scott's thesis is that organisms and perhaps other levels of biological organization have to be intentional. He talks about how mole crickets actively modify their burrows to get just the sound they want so they can attract mates. In some cases, like in humans, consciousness can come into play and be an aspect of intentionality but intentional behavior need not be conscious. It just needs to be directed at something in the environment based on some pre-existing model in the brain or elsewhere in the body about expected outcomes and current needs. Again, states of a Markov blanket.
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