Abstract
Downward causation is the controversial idea that ‘higher’ levels of organization can causally influence behaviour at ‘lower’ levels of organization. Here I propose that we can gain traction on downward causation by being operational and examining how adaptive systems identify regularities in evolutionary or learning time and use these regularities to guide behaviour. I suggest that in many adaptive systems components collectively compute their macroscopic worlds through coarse-graining. I further suggest we move from simple feedback to downward causation when components tune behaviour in response to estimates of collectively computed macroscopic properties. I introduce a weak and strong notion of downward causation and discuss the role the strong form plays in the origins of new organizational levels. I illustrate these points with examples from the study of biological and social systems and deep neural networks.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Reconceptualizing the origins of life’.
Highlights
Downward causation is among the most controversial and obscure concepts in evolutionary biology
I propose we move from simple feedback to downward causation when components tune behaviour in response to estimates of coarse-grained, aggregate properties
I use the term apparent downward causation when tuning is partial and imprecise. In this weak or minimal form, only a few components need to be tuning their behaviour to estimates of aggregate properties for there to be some downward causation in the system
Summary
Downward causation is among the most controversial and obscure concepts in evolutionary biology. Adaptive systems generally are collective—meaning that there are multiple, semi-independent components making decisions and contributing to system dynamics [11] It is not necessarily (it is perhaps rarely) the case that all components perceive the aggregate properties describing the system or tune to them in the same way. I use the term apparent downward causation when tuning is partial and imprecise In this weak or minimal form, only a few components need to be tuning their behaviour to estimates of aggregate properties for there to be some downward causation in the system.
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