Without Miracles: Universal Selection Theory and the Second Darwinian Revolution
In this sweeping account, Gary Cziko integrates various scientific disciplines within a universal selection theory that attempts to account for all cases of fit involving living organisms, including those that might appear miraculous. Cziko's bold assertion is that all novel forms of adapted complexity - whether single-celled organisms or scientific theories - emerge form an evolutionary process involving cumulative blind variation and selection. I. The Need for Selection. 1. Puzzles of Fit -- II. The Achievements of Selection. 2. The Fit of Biological Structures. 3. The Emergence of Instinct. 4. The Immune System: Selection by the Enemy. 5. Brain Evolution and Development: The Selection of Neurons and Synapses -- III. The Promise of Selection. 6. The Origin and Growth of Human Knowledge. 7. The Adaptive Modification of Behavior. 8. Adapted Behavior as the Control of Perception. 9. The Development and Functioning of Thought. 10. Cultural Knowledge as the Evolution of Tradition, Technology, and Science. 11. The Evolution, Acquisition, and Use of Language. 12. Education: The Provision and Transmission of Truth, or the Selectionist Growth of Fallible Knowledge? -- IV. The Use of Selection. 13. Evolutionary Computing: Selection Within Silicon. 14. The Artificial Selection of Organisms and Molecules -- V. The Universality of Selection. 15. From Providence Through Instruction to Selection: A Well-Traveled Road16. Universal Selection Theory: The Second Darwinian Revolution -- Appendix: The Trouble With Miracles
