The Nature of Biological Selfhood and Birth Defects

Understanding biological selfhood entails distinguishing it from complex forms like metacognitive and epistemic selfhood. The concept of morphogenesis is crucial because what may be defective in one organism could be perfectly normal in another. Evolutionary changes and birth defects are significant, with chemistry viewed as not making mistakes unlike developmental biology. Birth defects highlight the ability of cognitive systems to make mistakes based on unmet expectations.