Here’s one of the key factors in living organisms, and is actually a factor in complex adaptive systems in general. We have inside of us - from a paramecium to Plato - a model of the world. That model may be very simple and encoded purely genetically, or it may reflect a lifetime of learning. Everything we see, hear, and feel is interpreted through that model.
We use that model to sense the state of our environment and predict the reaction to our actions - things going from State S1 to S2. A paramecium, when food particles bump into the receptors on the outside of its cell, will swim up the gradient. The model, encoded in the genes and realized in the anatomy and physiology of the creature, is “food exists over there at the end of this gradient” or even just “more food = better.” Likewise, it will swim away from poison. We can break it down to the exact molecules involved, but at its heart (and for evolutionary purposes) it’s a model. It’s the same as when a chimp goes fishing for termites or we get dressed up before going out.
So “ignorance” here might be interpreted as an incomplete or incorrect model. The answer is to update the model (or avoid the situation). That, and understand how to use probability and uncertainty.
Here’s one of the key factors in living organisms, and is actually a factor in complex adaptive systems in general. We have inside of us - from a paramecium to Plato - a model of the world. That model may be very simple and encoded purely genetically, or it may reflect a lifetime of learning. Everything we see, hear, and feel is interpreted through that model.
We use that model to sense the state of our environment and predict the reaction to our actions - things going from State S1 to S2. A paramecium, when food particles bump into the receptors on the outside of its cell, will swim up the gradient. The model, encoded in the genes and realized in the anatomy and physiology of the creature, is “food exists over there at the end of this gradient” or even just “more food = better.” Likewise, it will swim away from poison. We can break it down to the exact molecules involved, but at its heart (and for evolutionary purposes) it’s a model. It’s the same as when a chimp goes fishing for termites or we get dressed up before going out.
So “ignorance” here might be interpreted as an incomplete or incorrect model. The answer is to update the model (or avoid the situation). That, and understand how to use probability and uncertainty.