CONSCIOUSNESS

4. Physical and Biological Sciences 175
negative/positive feedback algorithms involved in homeostasis, growth, reproduction, movement,
etc., leading to genetic/somatic adaptations. After some 3+ billion years of SL1, we find
the emergences of SL2 organisms, characterized by nervous system-based negative/positive
feedback and compensatory/pre-emptive feed-forward algorithms. With these came capabilities
for on-the-fly adjustments and basic psycho-social adaptations. After some 650 million
years of top-most SL2, some 2 million years ago, there was the emergence of notable SL3
Self-Awareness, in organisms with brain structures, areas, and circuitry enabling refection/
preflection and monitoring. This led to capabilities for intentional, semi-conscious change/
improvement in specific experiences, performances, and techniques/tools. At present, we are
some 2500 years into the emergence of SL4, Self-Control, in which we find capabilities to
Reflect/Preflect on and Monitor, and to effect Changes/Improves in, not just larger-scale individual
and collective existences/performances, but also our capabilities for SL3 reflections/
preflections, monitorings, and changes/improvements. Interestingly, such SL4 capabilities for
metacognition seem to have had their origins in philosophical and Spiritual realms, such as in
admonitions to “Know Thyself” and in certain yoga and Buddhist Insight/Mindfulness meditation
practices. There is also what seems like a new direction of bio-psychosocial causality,
in which the continuing emergences of such memes and practices create the neurology which
perpetuates and expands those memes and capabilities. Within all this, we can see a continuum
of Science-based SL0 to SL3 into more “Spirituality”-based SL3 to SL5 cybernetic-based
Stages/Levels, which suggest a possibility of an integration of Science and Spirituality into,
as the subtitle suggests, an emerging Scientific Spirituality. The poster per se consists of five
sections: 1) a centerpiece Stages/Levels Table, 2) detailed background on Cybernetics and
cybernetic Elements, 3) Timelines of Evolution, Development, and Daily Life, 4) possible Research
and Development priorities, and 5) Applications in such fields as Intervention Design,
Astrobiology, AI /Robotics, and the above-mentioned Scientific Spirituality. There is also a
short silent video featuring SL1 and early SL2 Exemplar organisms engaged in characteristic
behaviors in which a variety of cybernetic Elements can be observed to be at play. The two
intended take-aways from the poster are 1) a sense of the potential value in recognizing the
cumulative continuities and complexities inherent in such a cybernetics-based Stages/Levels
model, and 2) some basic experiences with related applications. P4
256 A Dynamic, Topographic, Natural-Selection Fitness Representation and
the Evolution of Conscious Awareness as a Mechanism for Rapid Plastic
Adaptation Michael McBeath, Igor Dolgov - Department of Psychology - New Mexico
State University (Psychology, Arizona State University,
Tempe, AZ)
Dynamic states of evolutionary fitness can be geometrically modeled as a multidimensional
spatial representation akin to a dynamically-changing topographic map. Each multidimensional
surface location represents an individual state at some point in time, with higher
elevations being selectively more advantageous. Invariant natural principles produce stable
fitness elevations while changing world conditions manifest as elevation oscillations. Different
types of natural selection mechanisms have evolved that allow organisms to differentially
adapt to the time-scale and plasticity level of fitness level oscillations. Traditional biological
evolution mechanisms allow organisms to adapt to stable ‘higher ground’ in the fitness representation
landscape, while less permanent natural selection mechanisms provide a means for
shorter term maneuverability and adaptation. We suggest that the phenomenon of conscious
awareness evolved as a mechanism to allow organisms to plan and rapidly adapt to transitory
dynamic patterns of fitness elevation change. Here conscious awareness is defined as a selfdirected
attentional state that allows individuals to plan and couple behavior to ephemeral
fitness elevation patterns. The unreliability of rapidly changing aspects of the fitness terrain
may in part explain why consciousness is so complex and historically difficult to model. In
this presentation we describe the fitness representation model and elucidate how consciousness
can serve as a useful and sometimes necessary tool to plan and navigate through rapidly
changing environmental conditions. C20