EVOLUTION (Process of)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1198 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
J.P. CHANGEUX, quoting D.T. CAMPBELL, thus resumes the general process of evolution, that seems to operate irrespectively of the concerned evolutive level (physical, biological, social):
- “At each level some form of selective retention would operate by variation-selection with three basic elements:
- some mechanisms introducing variations, i.e. diversity generators
- coherent selection processes
- some mechanisms which would protect and spread selected variations“ (1972, p.707).
This last mechanism is recursive.
Another very general and synthetic view of evolutive processes has been derived from biological evolution by W. SCHWEMMLER (1991. p.152)
This author distinguishes three basic stages in these processes:
- Arogenesis: a phase of innovative jumps
- Allogenesis: a phase of adaptive radiation
- Statigenesis: a phase of stabilization of the new types
This general concept is clearly akin to GOULD and ELDREDGE “punctuated evolution” (1993). According to SCHWEMMLER, such evolutive processes respond to a “periodicity principle”, which he relates to the well known HEGEL's principle of “These, Antithese, Synthese”.