A general account of selection: Biology, immunology, and behavior

Authors frequently refer to gene-based selection in biological evolution, t he reaction of the immune system to antigens, and operant learning as exemp lifying selection processes in the same sense of this term. However, as obv ious as this claim may seem on the surface, setting out an account of "sele ction" that is general enough to incorporate all three of these processes w ithout becoming so general as to be vacuous is far from easy. In this targe t article, we set out such a general account of selection to see how well i t accommodates these very different sorts of selection. The three fundament al elements of this account are replication, variation, and environmental i nteraction. For selection to occur, these three processes must be related i n a very specific way. In particular, replication must alternate vith envir onmental interaction so that any changes that occur in replication are pass ed on differentially because of environmental interaction, One of the main differences; among the three sorts of selection that we inv estigate concerns the role of organisms. In traditional biological evolutio n, organisms play a central role with respect to environmental interaction. Although environmental interaction can occur at other levels of the organi zational hierarchy, organisms are the primary focus of environmental intera ction. In the functioning of the immune system, organisms function as conta iners. The interactions that result in selection of antibodies during a lif etime are between immune system of one organism are not passed entities (an tibodies and antigens) contained within the organism. Resulting changes in the im on to later organisms. Nor are changes in operant behavior resulting from behavioral selection passed on to later organisms. But operant behavi or is not contained in the organism because most of the interactions that l ead to differential replication include parts of the world outside the orga nism. Changes in the organism's nervous system Lire the effects of those in teractions. The role of genes also varies in these three systems. Biologica l evolution is gene-based (i.e., genes are the primary replicators). Cones play very different roles in operant behavior and the immune system. Howeve r, in all three systems, iteration is central, All three selection processe s are also incredibly wasteful and inefficient. They can generate complexit y and novelty primarily because they are so wasteful and inefficient.