DNA as an Intelligent Agent System

[ragarth]

An Intelligent Agent System is a system composed of individual 'agents' each of which has a guiding parameter. The interaction of these agents results in a larger objective, like in an ant colony. No single ant comprehends it's purpose within the colony, they follow simple instincts that work together to produce a larger objective such as the building of a colony. Modern artificial neural networks are intelligent agent systems, each neuron is simple, it performs a single base operation while the connections between them are the loci for information storage. The interaction between neurons mediated through the synapses produces the flow of information that is greater than any individual neuron.

In a way, much of nature follows the intelligent agent model, and after thinking about it, DNA characterizes the intelligent agent model in a highly complex way. If we look at each agent being a given sequence, then the production of the whole organism is the interaction of these coding sequences.. Intelligent agents are inherently drivers of evolutionary processes because the very nature of their interaction will still produce a functional whole if any single agent is modified. Competing groups of intelligent agents incorporating a descent with modification parameter will then give rise to survival of the fittest as modification to individual agents changes the way in which agents function.

Further, this is not a storage of information as we humans comprehend- there is no central repository of data, it is rather the complex interaction of amorphous individual goals that give rise to the greater whole. This non-centralized nature, plus the high-level fault tolerance and acceptance of modification provide an ideal base for an increase in complexity of the system, and so we have an evolution from simple single-celled organisms all the way up to humans- in creationist lingo a pathway for an increase in information complexity in the organism without 'breaking' the system.

What say you?

 

[sk8Joyful]

An Intelligent Agent System is a system composed of individual 'agents' each of which has a guiding parameter.
In a way, much of nature follows the intelligent agent model,
and after thinking about it, DNA characterizes the intelligent agent model in a highly complex way.
Further, this is not a storage of information as we humans comprehend- there is no central repository of data

What say you?

Each cell is an 'intelligent agent system' in a sense, of which DNA is but one part.
The agent is the mind (this part of us, outside the brain) that operates quite easily outside learned limitations of time & space. This mind, for example, continuously varies "gene expression": meaning it switches genes as needed, off & ON;
making 1000's of other decisions momentarily... Evidently, the subconscious mind can prove itself as "the intelligent agent" part of us.

 

[TemperateSeaIsland]

Each cell is an 'intelligent agent system' in a sense, of which DNA is but one part.
The agent is the mind (this part of us, outside the brain) that operates quite easily outside learned limitations of time & space. This mind, for example, continuously varies "gene expression": meaning it switches genes as needed, off & ON;
making 1000's of other decisions momentarily... Evidently, the subconscious mind can prove itself as "the intelligent agent" part of us.

Evidence please.

 

[Legion.As.One]

The mind is a conscious part of humans. How can the subconscious alter your genetic makeup?! Genetic makeup has been started and completed in the time during which you are a zygote. The only thing that can change you after that is radiation.
This means genes are switched ON and OFF by accident during the time your genetic makeup is being designed, the mind can't control such things.

 

[plindboe]

Each cell is an 'intelligent agent system' in a sense, of which DNA is but one part.
The agent is the mind (this part of us, outside the brain) that operates quite easily outside learned limitations of time & space. This mind, for example, continuously varies "gene expression": meaning it switches genes as needed, off & ON;
making 1000's of other decisions momentarily... Evidently, the subconscious mind can prove itself as "the intelligent agent" part of us.

Genes are regulated by transcription factors binding to promoters and enhancers. Introduce a mutation into a promoter and the transcription factor(s) will no longer be able to bind to the sequence to initiate transcription. Likewise you can deactivate the same transcription by mutating the gene coding for the transcription factor(s) in question. You can even take the promoter for gene A and recombine it to gene B and introduce it into an organism, and gene B will be transcribed just as gene A used to be, being stimulated by the same chemical messengers.

You can read more here:
Genetics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transcription (genetics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transcription factor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter

 

[ragarth]

Each cell is an 'intelligent agent system' in a sense, of which DNA is but one part.
The agent is the mind (this part of us, outside the brain) that operates quite easily outside learned limitations of time & space. This mind, for example, continuously varies "gene expression": meaning it switches genes as needed, off & ON;
making 1000's of other decisions momentarily... Evidently, the subconscious mind can prove itself as "the intelligent agent" part of us.

I think you slightly misunderstood. The term 'intelligent agent' actually does not refer to something with intelligence. An intelligent agent can be anything from a circuit that turns on a green light when receiving current, to a human in a social structure. It's merely an individual unit characterized as carrying out it's function based on environmental stimuli, that acts within a group to achieve a larger goal. That said, while a single cell is an intelligent agent, it's more profound to realize that the DNA within us are the embodiment of an intelligent agent system and how this directly builds into an argument for a successful increase in organism complexity based on intelligent agent theory. Biology is highly complex, and there are many facets of it where you can find intelligent agent systems- cells, dna, organs, neurons, immune response. What we characterize as the mind is actually the end product of a specialized intelligent agent system- the brain.

The mind is a conscious part of humans. How can the subconscious alter your genetic makeup?! Genetic makeup has been started and completed in the time during which you are a zygote. The only thing that can change you after that is radiation.
This means genes are switched ON and OFF by accident during the time your genetic makeup is being designed, the mind can't control such things.

There are studies being done right now where we're trying to ascertain the extent to which neurotransmitters can modify gene expression within neurons.

Regulation of gene expression for neurotransmitter...[Microsc Res Tech. 2002] - PubMed Result
Regulation of Gene Expression by Neurotransmitters in the Central Nervous System
BiomedExperts: Gene expression is differentially regulated by neurotransmitters in embryonic neuronal cortical culture.

 

[Legion.As.One]

Well, that is quite interesting actually...

 

[ragarth]

Well, that is quite interesting actually...

Very! And if you state the the mind is nothing more than the sum of it's neurological parts, then the mind can modify gene expression within it's parts at a subconscious level.

As I said to sk8joyful, biology is complex, and you can find intelligent agent systems everywhere in it. It seems to me that intelligent agent systems are very effective at producing the kinds of systems we see in nature, and provides a distinct pathway from very simple organisms (simple eukaryotes) to more complex systems (humans) by way of their properties of fault tolerance, modification (mutation) incorperation, and decentralized information retention.

 

[Naraoia]

Ragarth: I really like this view of the genome.

 

[ragarth]

Ragarth: I really like this view of the genome.

Thank you, it's much like an ant colony, I think. Our individual genes are certain types of ants, and we are the colony. If a given type of ant starts to act differently when the colony is already made, then they could bring down the whole colony (mutation). But if a group of ants are acting differently as the colony is made, then that is incorporated into the building of the colony, and so while it will be different, it will still function. A mutation during development might make the colony deeper, more shallow, spread over a wider area, or with larger chambers. These will either make the colony more effective at survival, less effective at survival, or no real change. If in competition with other colonies, we have survival of the fittest and descent with modification.

As stated earlier, the distributed nature of the 'blueprints' of the colony into disparate agents, decentralizing the information and putting the reconstructive capacity of the colony into the hands of numerous individual units creates an excellent medium for an increase in complexity. An ant colony might start as a single chamber in the ground, then in successive generations of the colony mutations create the digging of tunnels, which allow the chamber building ants in to build chambers at the ends of those tunnels, digging deeper, etc. And so our simple, single chambered colony becomes a complex, multi-chambered colony.

A little bit of an oversimplification, but still a decent analogy.

 

[lostaquarium]

Of course the mind can alter gene expression! You do it right now in fact.

Concentrate on learning someone's name, or a few French verbs, or memorise something else. Tomorrow morning, when you still remember it, that's the result of changes in gene expression, which lead to the strengthening of certain synapses. More specifically, one hypothesis of how "memory" comes about is "long-term potentiation", such as what happens in the hippocampus. If cell A regularly causes cell B to fire, then genes get expressed which make A fire B even more easily in future.

Also I'd like to throw into the discussion the concept of imprinting - another way the organism can influence genes, in a heritable way, albeit not consciously.

 

[sk8Joyful]

How can the subconscious alter your genetic makeup?!

Genetic makeup has been started and completed in the time during which you are a zygote.
This means genes are switched ON and OFF by accident during the time your genetic makeup is being designed, the mind can't control such things.
The mind is a conscious part of humans.

Do not confuse your physical brain's consciousness, with
your subconscious mind which (in utero started being imprinted
as part of your inheritance by your mother's subconscious mind), and
in part and in concert with your other genetic inheritances, then you learned how to grow your own mortal physical body, including your brain.

Of course your subconscious mind can alter gene expression! You do it right now in fact, to continue learning...
You also do it every time, you need to manufacture antibodies; and change your emotional states, and any other changes of which your subconscious mind has been blessed by GOD to so do, including therefore healing... and regenerating... and staying young.

Why did God bless you like this? with all these abilities... because as His beloved child, your eternally-loving Heavenly Father delights when you Praise Him, in enjoying your life...

 

[sbvera13]

That sounds like some kind of new-age hippie nonsense... brainwaves changing your dna? *cough*

 

[ragarth]

Of course the mind can alter gene expression! You do it right now in fact.

Concentrate on learning someone's name, or a few French verbs, or memorise something else. Tomorrow morning, when you still remember it, that's the result of changes in gene expression, which lead to the strengthening of certain synapses. More specifically, one hypothesis of how "memory" comes about is "long-term potentiation", such as what happens in the hippocampus. If cell A regularly causes cell B to fire, then genes get expressed which make A fire B even more easily in future.

Also I'd like to throw into the discussion the concept of imprinting - another way the organism can influence genes, in a heritable way, albeit not consciously.

Gene expression can indeed modify synaptic weight, but that's not the only method by which your brain shows plasticity. For more information on this, here's a link: Synaptic plasticity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We do not yet fully understand the nature of synaptic plasticity, in a way, it's one of many holy grails in neuroscience. Once we understand this, we'll be that much closer to modeling human learning capacity in computers.

 

[ragarth]

Do not confuse your physical brain's consciousness, with
your subconscious mind which (in utero started being imprinted
as part of your inheritance by your mother's subconscious mind), and
in part and in concert with your other genetic inheritances, then you learned how to grow your own mortal physical body, including your brain.

Of course your subconscious mind can alter gene expression! You do it right now in fact, to continue learning...
You also do it every time, you need to manufacture antibodies; and change your emotional states, and any other changes of which your subconscious mind has been blessed by GOD to so do, including therefore healing... and regenerating... and staying young.

Why did God bless you like this? with all these abilities... because as His beloved child, your eternally-loving Heavenly Father delights when you Praise Him, in enjoying your life...

To my knowledge, there is no neural connection through the umbilical cord, and since there is no other collection of cells that represent a direct connection between fetus and mother, no prenatal transference of data can take place. It is debated that during later trimesters, the baby's brain might be capable of learning, but this is only through hearing.

I also find it amusing that you assume that god provided us with brains. My original post was an explicit statement that the intelligent agent model of gene expression supports evolution by providing a system within which decentralized data produces a greater whole, and by which modification is incorporated without damaging the system. The brain is also an intelligent agent system, in hierarchy theory, biology is a nested hierarchy of intelligent agent systems: genetics > cells > organs > individuals. The brain and nervous system can be defined in either the organ or cell stage. since it is individually it's own agent, but also composed of individual agents.

 

[Naraoia]

Do not confuse your physical brain's consciousness, with
your subconscious mind which (in utero started being imprinted
as part of your inheritance by your mother's subconscious mind), and
in part and in concert with your other genetic inheritances, then you learned how to grow your own mortal physical body, including your brain.

Of course your subconscious mind can alter gene expression! You do it right now in fact, to continue learning...
You also do it every time, you need to manufacture antibodies; and change your emotional states, and any other changes of which your subconscious mind has been blessed by GOD to so do, including therefore healing... and regenerating... and staying young.

Why did God bless you like this? with all these abilities... because as His beloved child, your eternally-loving Heavenly Father delights when you Praise Him, in enjoying your life...

What? Are? You? Talking? About?