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In Evolution in Four Dimensions (E4D; 2005), Jablonka & Lamb (J&L) present an interesting synthesis of evolution that takes a stance against purely gene-centered approaches. By providing evidence of the importance of not only gene-based mechanisms, but also epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic mechanisms in the establishment of inheritable traits, the authors propose to reconsider evolution as being dependent and effective along these four dimensions. This way, the authors seek to reconcile genetic, developmental, behavioral, and socio-cultural studies under a systemic, comprehensive framework for evolutionary theory. Through interpretative mutations as another mechanism of variation, both Darwinian and Lamarkian aspects find their place in this proposal; we believe it represents a much needed, challenging, and serious attempt at moving forward our understanding of evolution. However, while the authors dispute the gene-centered notion and consider evolution as a systemic multilayered phenomenon, we believe they fall short in one critical aspect: J&L rely heavily on the notion of “information transmission” in a rather loose manner. Their approach is liable to the argument that in order to have any such thing, one needs a transmitter, a message, and a receiver – something that is not easily found when dealing with biological phenomena.
What distinguishes living systems from the rest is a difficult question that can have non-trivial consequences for our understanding of evolution. One influential hypothesis states that living systems are those that maintain organizational closure: they are constituted by networks of self-sustaining processes, regardless of the materials used to instantiate such loops; that is, they are autonomous systems (Maturana & Varela 1973; Varela 1979). When one understands organisms this way, the notion of information transmission becomes less appealing: a closed system cannot “have” information in itself. As E4D describes,...