William H. Calvin
Encyclopedia
William H. Calvin, Ph.D., (born 30 April 1939) is an American theoretical neurophysiologist and professor at the University of Washington
in Seattle. He is a well-known popularizer of neuroscience
and evolutionary biology
, including the hybrid of these two fields, neural Darwinism
. He relates abrupt climate change
to human evolution
and more recently has been working on global climate change issues (his 2008 book Global Fever).
In his 1996 book How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now, Calvin writes as an advocate of the idea that brain-based Darwinian
processes are what provides brain
s with what are called "consciousness
" and "intelligence". Calvin starts with the harmless division of brain processes into two types, those that depend on "cerebral ruts" (hardware
) and those that dance more freely through the brain and so are able to function like "software"; Calvin usually calls these "firing patterns".
Calvin's more audacious step, in his research monograph The Cerebral Code, comes when he suggests that the pattern of action potential
s in any particular neocortical minicolumn can be replicated and spread through the cortex like a piece of software code and be "played" on the millions of other minicolumns in the same way one can play a million copies of a compact disc
(CD) on a million CD players – the key difference being that while all CD players are designed to do basically the same task, the various cortical minicolumns can all have their own unique "ruts" and the copies of the firing patterns are not exact duplicates.
This allows for a "cerebral symphony" rather than just a million-fold amplification of the same tune and a "survival of the fittest" process whereby those firing patterns that resonate best with the existing pool of "ruts" will dominate one's consciousness and generate intelligent behavior. ("Our long train of connected thoughts is why our consciousness is so different from what came before.")
In writing about what mind will become, in A Brief History of the Mind he notes, "We will likely shift gears again, juggling more concepts and making decisions even faster, imagining courses of action in greater depth. Ethics are possible only because of a human level of ability to speculate, judge quality, and modify our possible actions accordingly."
William H. Calvin has advanced the view that use of the Acheulean
hand axe
in hominid
s was a major factor in the evolution in human intelligence.
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Seattle. He is a well-known popularizer of neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
and evolutionary biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, including the hybrid of these two fields, neural Darwinism
Neural Darwinism
Neural Darwinism, a large scale theory of brain function by Gerald Edelman, was initially published in 1978, in a book called The Mindful Brain...
. He relates abrupt climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
to human evolution
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
and more recently has been working on global climate change issues (his 2008 book Global Fever).
In his 1996 book How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now, Calvin writes as an advocate of the idea that brain-based Darwinian
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
processes are what provides brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
s with what are called "consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
" and "intelligence". Calvin starts with the harmless division of brain processes into two types, those that depend on "cerebral ruts" (hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
) and those that dance more freely through the brain and so are able to function like "software"; Calvin usually calls these "firing patterns".
Calvin's more audacious step, in his research monograph The Cerebral Code, comes when he suggests that the pattern of action potential
Action potential
In physiology, an action potential is a short-lasting event in which the electrical membrane potential of a cell rapidly rises and falls, following a consistent trajectory. Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, called excitable cells, which include neurons, muscle cells, and...
s in any particular neocortical minicolumn can be replicated and spread through the cortex like a piece of software code and be "played" on the millions of other minicolumns in the same way one can play a million copies of a compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
(CD) on a million CD players – the key difference being that while all CD players are designed to do basically the same task, the various cortical minicolumns can all have their own unique "ruts" and the copies of the firing patterns are not exact duplicates.
This allows for a "cerebral symphony" rather than just a million-fold amplification of the same tune and a "survival of the fittest" process whereby those firing patterns that resonate best with the existing pool of "ruts" will dominate one's consciousness and generate intelligent behavior. ("Our long train of connected thoughts is why our consciousness is so different from what came before.")
In writing about what mind will become, in A Brief History of the Mind he notes, "We will likely shift gears again, juggling more concepts and making decisions even faster, imagining courses of action in greater depth. Ethics are possible only because of a human level of ability to speculate, judge quality, and modify our possible actions accordingly."
William H. Calvin has advanced the view that use of the Acheulean
Acheulean
Acheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...
hand axe
Hand axe
A hand axe is a bifacial Stone tool typical of the lower and middle Palaeolithic , and is the longest-used tool of human history.-Distribution:...
in hominid
Hominidae
The Hominidae or include them .), as the term is used here, form a taxonomic family, including four extant genera: chimpanzees , gorillas , humans , and orangutans ....
s was a major factor in the evolution in human intelligence.
Books
- Inside the Brain (with George A. Ojemann, New York:New American Library, 1980).
- The Throwing Madonna: Essays on the Brain (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983. Update 1991 by Bantam.)
- The River That Runs Uphill: A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain (New York: Macmillan, 1986. ISBN 0025209205)
- The Cerebral Symphony: Seashore Reflections on the Structure of Consciousness (New York: Bantam Books, 1990. ISBN 0-553-05707-3)
- The Ascent of Mind: Ice Age Climates and the Evolution of Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 1991. ISBN 0-553-07084-3)
- How the Shaman Stole the Moon: The Search of Ancient Prophet-Scientists: From Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon (New York: Bantam Books, 1991. ISBN 0-553-07740-6)
- Conversations with Neil's Brain: The Neural Nature of Thought and Language (with George Ojemann)
- How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now (New York: Basic Books, 1996. ISBN 0465072771)
- The Cerebral Code: Thinking a Thought in the Mosaics of the Mind
- Lingua ex Machina: Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the Human Brain (with Derek BickertonDerek BickertonDerek Bickerton is a linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Based on his work in creole languages in Guyana and Hawaii, he has proposed that the features of creole languages provide powerful insights into the development of language both by individuals and as a...
) (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000. ISBN 0262032732) - A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN 0226092011)
- A Brief History of the Mind: From Apes to Intellect and Beyond (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0195159071)
- Almost Us: Portraits of the Apes (2005, ISBN 1-4196-1979-9)
- Global Fever: How to Treat Climate Change (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2008. ISBN 0226092046.
External links
- William Calvin's website includes many articles and slides.
- "The Great Climate Flip-flop" is his cover story for the Atlantic Monthly.
- "The Fate of the Soul" in Natural History magazine.
- "Abrupt Climate Jumps and the Evolution of Higher Intellectual Functions during the Ice Ages," chapter for R. J. Sternberg, ed., The Evolution of Intelligence (Erlbaum, 2001), pp. 97-115.
- He coined the term "Darwin machineDarwin MachineA Darwin machine is a machine that, like a Turing machine, involves an iteration process that yields a high-quality result, but, whereas a Turing machine uses logic, the Darwin machine uses rounds of variation, selection, and inheritance.In its original connotation, a Darwin machine is any process...
" in "The brain as a Darwin Machine" in Nature (1987). - "The Six Essentials? Minimal Requirements for the Darwinian Bootstrapping of Quality," Journal of Memetics 1:1 (1997).