The Act of Creation (66 page)

 

 

We may perhaps speculate that the digitally coded signals:
'brake', 'steady wheel' have been converted into analogue-computing
servo-mechanisms. But speculations apart, we can confidently say that an
action-pattern of a general nature has been initiated on the top level,
and that the details were successively filled in by feedbacks from more
and more restricted local environments on the lower echelons. Similarly,
the future adult is 'roughed in' in a summary way in the morphogenetic
gradients of the zygote, then 'sketched in' in the organ-Anlage of the
uncouth embryo, and so on, until the last detail is elaborated by the
joint action of a cell-group's self-differentiation potential and its
local environment. The performance of a skill means executing a general
order by a series of progressively differentiated action-patterns,
each controlled from above, and adjusted by local feedbacks.*
We thus arrive at a synthesis between the principles of hierarchic
organization and feedback adjustment. To the hierarchy of autonomous
sub-wholes must be added the complementary 'hierarchy of environments'
and 'hierarchy of feedbacks' -- of loops-within-loops, from those
embracing the personality as a whole in the 'total field', down to the
molecular level. An elementary but engaging model for a hierarchy of
servo-mechanisms is the 'TOTE unit' proposed by Pribram. [1]
Let me dot my i's on this rather important point by a martial analogy. The
commander of the N'th Army has decided, taking into account all available
intelligence reports on the enemy's dispositions, to capture tomorrow at
dawn the vital hill No. 607. He sends his orders to his six divisional
comanders, broadly outlining their tasks. The commander of the 3rd
division is assigned the task of occupying hamlet X. There are several
approaches to the hamlet; to decide which is best, he sends out some
reconnaissance aircraft which feed informtion to him. He then communicates
his orders to his battalion commanders. Each of these will send out
patrols to get the lie of the land allotted to them before giving orders
to his company commanders; and in the end each individual soldier will
have to make the best of his own small environment of protective hedges
and ditches as he moves forward in obedience to the sergeant's orders.
6. It ought to be evident by now that the terms 'matrix' and 'code'
are not meant to refer to separate entities, but (like 'structure'
and 'function') to complementary aspects of a unitary process. The
code is the invariant pattern of the process; it is not affected by
environmental input. The matrix is the ensemble of part-processes,
or 'members' potentially capable of being activated by the code;
it thus represents the total repertory of alternative (equipotential
or equifinal) variations in carrying out the process, according to
feedbacks from the environment. The code is the fixed, the matrix
the adaptable side of the process; the former determines the rules
of the game, the latter the actual course of the game. The matrix,
therefore, represents the more 'alert' or 'articulate' or 'explicit'
side of the unitary process -- the side turned towards the environment
The twenty-letter alphabet of protein-synthesis in the cell-matrix is
more explicit than the three-letter alphabet of the genetic code; it
'spells out' what the latter implied. The articulated motions of the
limb spell out the compressed message of the excitation-clang, as the
pianist's fingers spell out the tune. In the perceptual and cognitive
hierarchies, the codes which govern performance (e.g. grammar and syntax)
function on lower levels of awareness than the performance itself.
7. The control of the whole over the parts is exercised, as in our
military hierarchy, through 'regulation channels'. The genetic code does
not interfere with the details of ATP synthesis: it activates the sub-code
of the mitochondria. The centre coordinating the motion of the limbs --
in newt or man -- does not deal directly with individual muscles; it
activates the proper sub-centres. The battalion commander does not issue
orders to individual soldiers, or even squads; he signals to Company
headquarters: 'D Company will advance at 1800 hours.' The Company, the
limb, the mitochondria are complex sub-wholes; but they are activated
from the next-higher level as units, through their codes; and they in
turn activate their members as
units
through their sub-codes.
To put it in a different way: each part-process is a pattern of
relations
; but it is manipulated from the next-higher level as a
unit -- a
relatum
. We shall see that as a general rule, when we
ascend in any hierarchy, relations turn into relata, which enter into new
relations, and so on. The code can be said to represent the invariant
pattern of a relation; the matrix the ensemble of the relata. But one
step up, and the code itself becomes a relatum; one step down, and the
members of the matrix are seen as complex relations. We may thus add
one more pair of complementary terms to characterize the Janus-faced
entities in the developmental hierarchy: part whole; structure
function, regulative mosaic, autonomous dependent,
relation relatum, matrix code.
8. The stresses set up between the organism's inner and outer environment
are matched by active adaptations on various scales. The term 'dynamic
equilibrium' indicates adaptative processes which do not entail major
changes in the pattern of the whole; 'regenerative span' refers to the
organism's capacity for 'adaptations of the second order' to challenges
which can be met only by a reshaping of structures or a reorganization of
functions; while 'routine regenerations' occupy an intermediary position,
and overlap with both.
'Equilibrium' in this context refers not to relations between parts, but
between the excited part and the controls which represent the whole. Under
conditions of dynamic equilibrium, the stresses between the self-assertive
tendencies of the excited part and its integrative controls are of a
transitory character. Paranormal challenges may lead to the phenomenon
of'physiological isolation', owing to over-stimulation of the part or
blockage of communication with its normal controls. In lower organisms,
the isolated part tends to develop into a new whole. If it was segregated
ab ovo, as sex cells and regeneration cells are, this development follows
a straight course; if isolation occurs at later stages, as in fissure,
budding, and organ-regeneration, it involves a temporary regression of
the part to an embryonic or more juvenile phase of development, and the
liberation of genetic potentials which are normally under restraint. It
is a safety device which enables the organism to cope with traumatic
challenges, and correct faulty integrations; it furthermore confers on
it a super-flexibility which plays an important part in biological and
mental evolution.
On higher levels of the evolutionary scale, regenerative processes are
predominantly reorganizations of
functions
. These range from the
repair of neuro-muscular co-ordination to the compensation of cortical
damages, and to the re-structuring of perceptual and conceptual patterns
in the
reculer pour mieux sauter
of the creative process.
During the regressive, catabolic phase, the part tends to dominate
the whole through the reversal of axial gradients and hierarchic
controls. This may lead to irreversible changes of a pathological
nature (malignant growths,
idée fixe
). To avoid snapping
of the loosened ties, the isolation of the part must be temporary and
not complete: after the routine-controls have gone out of action, the
organism as a whole must assist the regenerative process.
'Routine repairs' were seen to range from the regeneration of tissues
lost through wear and tear, to the restorative effects of sleep. Dreaming
could be described as a de-differentiation of reasoning-matrices and even,
up to a point, of personal identity.
9. These periodic fluctuations from the highest level of integration
down to earlier or more primitive levels and up again to a new,
modified pattern, seem to play a major part in biological and
mental evolution. Their universality is reflected in the myths of
death and rebirth, the 'dark night of the soul', etc. The 'magic' of
organ-regenerations, and of unconscious guidance in creativity, both owe
their striking character to the sudden re-activation of (morphogenetic or
psychogenetic) potentials which are normally under restraint in the adult
individual. The period of incubation may be compared to the catabolic
phase in organ-regeneration: the former releases pre-conceptual, intuitive
modes of ideation from the censorship imposed by the conscious mind;
the latter triggers off embryonic growth-processes equally inhibited
by the mature organism. The contact-guidance of nerves towards their
end-organs and the revival of other pre-natal skills, provide enticing
parallels to the unconscious gradients and ancient 'waterways' which
mediate the underground rendezvous of ideas.
Summary
To the hierarchy of sub-wholes in the development and behaviour of
organisms, we have now added a complementary 'hierarchy of environments',
and a third hierarchy of (exteroceptive and proprioceptive) feedbacks --
of loops-within-loops which connect the first and the second on every
level. Certain homologue principles of organization. were seen to
operate on all levels, such as: (a) the dichotomy of self-assertive and
participatory tendencies derived from the dual character of each part as
a 'sub' and a 'whole'; and the related complementarity of regulative and
mosaic development, of equipotentiality and fixed pathway, of relations
and relata. (b) Control within the organic hierarchy is exercised by
'regulation channels', i.e. high centres do not normally have direct
dealings with lowly ones, and vice versa. (c) Trigger-releaser
devices seem to be the general rule in the activation of pre-set,
autonomous patterns. (d) The releaser signals (excitation-clangs,
frequency-modulation sequences?) from higher echelons were found to
be of a more implicit, generalized order than the actual performance
'spelled out' by the addressee. (e) The pattern of the performance is
determined by its invariant code, but sub-wholes have varying degrees of
freedom for adaptable strategies (equipotential variations) dependent
on feedback from their local environment. (f) Under normal conditions
these flexible strategies are sufficient to restore dynamic equilibrium
between the whole and its excited parts. (g) Traumatic experiences may
cause irreversible, degenerative changes in the exposed part, but under
favourable conditions may initiate superflexible adaptations of a second
order -- regenerations of structure or reorganizations of function,
which are capable of redressing faulty integration, and also play an
important part in biological and mental development.
The reader may consider some of these conclusions trivial, others perhaps
as rash generalizations. In the following chapters their validity will be
tested in the light of instinct-behaviour, learning, and problem-solving.
NOTE
To
p. 470
. 'Feedback' is used here in a broad
sense, to include all exteroceptive and proprioceptive inputs relevant
to the ongoing activity.

 

 

 

 

 

VI

 

 

CODES OF INSTINCT BEHAVIOUR

 

The Genetics of Behaviour

 

 

The phylogenetic origins of instinct-behaviour are among the blackest
black boxes found in the sciences of life. The causative mechanism
responsible for the evolution of species in their morphological aspect is
perplexing enough; regarding the origin of specific behaviour-patterns,
the darkness is almost complete. As one eminent ethologist laments:
'The backward position of ethology is striking. Owing to the difficulty
of tracing genetically determined behaviour components, geneticists
have nearly always used morphological characters as indicators
of gene-function. . . . A genetics of behaviour still has to be
developed.' [1]

 

 

Evolutionary genetics lies outside the scope of this book, but a brief
remark in passing may be excused. If, apart from a few tentative studies,
[2] the genetics of behaviour is still an uncharted territory, the reason
may perhaps be an unconscious reluctance to put the already strained
theoretical framework of neo-Darwinian genetics to an additional
test. To quote a very trivial example: an individual songbird or
jackdaw or sparrow, on spotting a predator, will give an alarm call,
warning the whole flock. 'These alarm calls', Tinbergen points out,
'are a clear example of an activity which serves the group but endangers
the individual.' [3] Are we really to assume that the occulo-vocal
'wiring diagram' in the sparrow's nervous system which releases the alarm
call in response to a sign-Gestalt stimulus of predatory shape, arose by
random mutations and was perpetuated by natural selection in spite of its
negative survival value for the mutant? The same question could be asked
concerning the phylogenetic origin of the ritualized tournament fights
in such various animals as antlers, iguana, wolves, and fish. Wolves
sprawl on their backs as a token of defeat and surrender, exposing their
vulnerable bellies to the victor's fangs. One is inclined to call this
a rather risky attitude; and what is the
individual
survival
value of
not
hitting (or biting, goring) below the belt? Or if
it comes to that, of the digger-wasps' nerve-racking maternal activities?

 

A female of this species, when about to lay an egg, digs a hole, kills
or paralyses a caterpillar, and carries it to the hole, where she stows
it away after having deposited an egg on it (phase a). This done, she
digs another hole, in which an egg is laid on a new caterpillar. In
the meantime, the first egg has hatched and the larva has begun to
consume its store of food. The mother wasp now turns her attention
again to the first hole (phase b), to which she brings some more moth
larvae; then she does the same in the second hole. She returns to the
first hole for the third time to bring a final batch of six or seven
caterpillars (phase c), after which she closes the hole and leaves it
for ever. In this way she works in turn at two or even three holes,
each in a different phase of development. Baerends investigated
the means by which the wasp brought the right amount of food to each
hole. He found that the wasp visited all the holes each morning before
leaving for the hunting grounds. By changing the contents of the hole
and watching the subsequent behaviour of the wasp, he found that (1)
by robbing a hole he could force the wasp to bring far more food than
usual; and (2) by adding larvae to the hole's contents he could force
her to bring less food than usual. [4]