Abstract
Life processes at all levels (from the genetic to the behavioral) are coordinated by semiotic interactions between cells, tissues, membranes, organs, or individuals and tuned through evolution to stabilize important functions. A stabilizing dynamics based on a system of semiotic scaffoldings implies that genes do not control the life of organisms, they merely scaffold it. The nature-nurture dynamics is thus far more complex and open than is often claimed. Contrary to physically based interactions, semiotic interactions do not depend on any direct causal connection between the sign vehicle (the representamen) and the effect. Semiotic interaction patterns therefore provide fast and versatile mechanisms for adaptations, mechanisms that depend on communication and “learning” rather than on genetic preformation. Seen as a stabilizing agency supporting the emergence of higher-order structure semiotic scaffolding is not, of course, exclusive for phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, it is also an important dynamical element in cultural evolution.
| Translated title of the contribution | Semiotisk afstivning: Et enhedsprincip der hæfter liv og kultur sammen |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Journal | Green Letters |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 243-254 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISSN | 1468-8417 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Sept 2015 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Science