Autopoiesis and cognition in the game of life

Artificial Life
Randall D Beer

Abstract

Maturana and Varela's notion of autopoiesis has the potential to transform the conceptual foundation of biology as well as the cognitive, behavioral, and brain sciences. In order to fully realize this potential, however, the concept of autopoiesis and its many consequences require significant further theoretical and empirical development. A crucial step in this direction is the formulation and analysis of models of autopoietic systems. This article sketches the beginnings of such a project by examining a glider from Conway's game of life in autopoietic terms. Such analyses can clarify some of the key ideas underlying autopoiesis and draw attention to some of the central open issues. This article also examines the relationship between an autopoietic perspective on cognition and recent work on dynamical approaches to the behavior and cognition of situated, embodied agents.

References

Jan 1, 1989·Bio Systems·R J BagleyI M Stadnyk
Apr 7, 1988·Journal of Theoretical Biology·R L Thompson, N S Goel
May 1, 1974·Currents in Modern Biology·F G VarelaR Uribe
Oct 9, 1999·Journal of Computational Neuroscience·H J ChielJ C Gallagher
Feb 26, 2000·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·R D Beer
Sep 13, 1991·Science·R A Brooks

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Citations

Feb 6, 2014·Artificial Life·Randall D Beer
Feb 12, 2010·Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology·Plamen L Simeonov
Sep 28, 2007·Bio Systems·Nils BertschingerJürgen Jost
Aug 29, 2014·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Jose A Fernandez-Leon
Oct 20, 2015·Communicative & Integrative Biology·Dennis Dollens
Aug 26, 2014·Artificial Life·Randall D Beer
Apr 18, 2018·Artificial Life·Matthew D Egbert, Juan Pérez-Mercader
Jun 5, 2019·Journal of Bioethical Inquiry·Denis Larrivee, Michele Farisco
Feb 7, 2020·Artificial Life·Randall D Beer
Aug 11, 2020·Artificial Life·Peter D Turney
Aug 11, 2019·Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere : the Journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life·Carlos MariscalH James Cleaves
Nov 3, 2021·Artificial Life·Eric Peña, Hiroki Sayama

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