Category: If Microbes begat Mind
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Artificial Life as a Petri Dish
Artificial life simulations reinforce hypotheses that possibly a species’ total skill set necessary for optimum survival may first be assembled through symbiosis, and only later encapsulated as heritable traits in single individuals. If new species can be created through genetic integration of traits first sampled in a symbiotic relationship, the Baldwin Effect would overcome the…
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Volvox – early collaborative intelligence
Volvox is a genus of freshwater green algae often found in ponds, ditches, or shallow puddles — one of the earliest communities manifesting collaborative intelligence. Volvox played a unique role as a precursor of multicellularity, illustrating how collaboration came very early in evolution. Volvox diverged from unicellular ancestors about 200 million years ago. Antonie Philips…

