CAPITALISM NATURE SOCIALISM VOLUME 19 NUMBER 1(MARCH 2008) SCIENCE AT THE CROSSROADS Evolution: The Public’s Problem, and the Scientists’ Stuart A. Newman The fact that organic evolution occurred, and continues to occur, is as solid as any conclusion science has yet produced. To take issue with this, considering the interconnected biological, chemical, geological, and physical facts that enter into our knowledge of evolution, is to take issue with much of modern science. Significantly, though, many people throughout the world, particularly in the United States, continue to reject a naturalistic account of the origination of complex biological systems and the genesis of species. Downloaded By: [Newman, Stuart A.] At: 18:37 22 February 2008 Skepticism about evolution appears to be based more on received views influenced by religious belief than on the persuasive force of contemporary anti- evolution counter-narratives. Nonetheless, several current schools of thought seek to capitalize on inadequacies or flaws in various versions of the account of mainstream biology.1 ‘‘Young earth creationism,’’ for example, pointing to gaps in the fossil record, adheres closely to Biblical accounts of the genesis of the world and its life forms, holding that life was established on Earth around 6,000 years ago. The more recently established ‘‘Intelligent Design’’ movement, in contrast, accepts the age of the Earth as determined by science and even a role for evolution in molding many biological features (e.g., the overall structure of the bodies and appendages of insects, humans, and other many-celled organisms) but asserts that other, finer features, such as the microscopic beating whip on the surface of cells known as the flagellum, are ‘‘irreducibly complex’’ and can only have been generated by a ‘‘designer’’ located outside the frame of naturalistic thought.2 The take on this by the secular liberal mainstream is that it represents a rejection of rationalism. However, few contemporary religionists, even the most fundamen- talist of them, question mechanistic and other naturalistic accounts of observable phenomena. This is clearly a departure from ancient cultures where animistic explanations of things like fire and the weather were standard. Nor do most religious believers in the developed world reject medicines and surgical procedures based on 1See Eugenie C. Scott, Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004). 2Michael J. Behe, The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism (New York: Free Press, 2007). ISSN 1045-5752 print=ISSN 1548-3290 online=08=010098-09 # 2008 The Center for Political Ecology www.cnsjournal.org DOI: 10.1080=10455750701859513 EVOLUTION 99 the conception of the living human organism as a physical and chemical entity. And whatever they may think about how the cell’s flagellum originated, the idea that the motion of this structure occurs by standard physicochemical processes is uncon- troversial to the vast majority of religionists. Why then, do so many people reject an evolutionary account of complex biological systems? First, we must recognize that in contemplating the origins of the world as we know it, most members of even advanced technological societies, including a fair number of scientists and philosophers, are comfortable bringing supernatural causation into the picture at some point, particularly in the distant past.3 So it is not simply a matter of who believes in science and who believes in divine intervention (most people seeming to believe in an amalgam of the two), but whether the scientific narrative on offer is persuasive enough to force people to reevaluate and possibly abandon their received worldview. Second, for most people, their experienced life is more important to them than what occurred 3 billion (or even 6,000) years ago. People’s experience of organismal types*wild and domestic animals and plants*focuses on, and indeed depends on, the constancy of the species’ identities, not the possibility that they are on their way to changing into something else.4 And, other than perhaps for existentialist Downloaded By: [Newman, Stuart A.] At: 18:37 22 February 2008 philosophers and constitutional cynics, the feeling that life is fundamentally meaningless is usually a source of unhappiness. It should therefore not be expected that secularist jibes, such as the recent essay in The Guardian on the evolution wars by the environmental writer George Monbiot titled ‘‘A Life with No Purpose,’’ would be effective in recruiting the general citizenry to an evolutionary perspective. The gist of this article is contained in the following passages: [A]s soon as you consider the implications [of Darwin’s theory], you must cease to believe that either Life or life are affected by purpose ...Darwinian evolution tells us that we are incipient compost: assemblages of complex molecules that* for no greater purpose than to secure sources of energy against competing claims*have developed the ability to speculate. After a few score years, the molecules disaggregate and return whence they came. Period.5 Such ultimate questions are, of course, irrelevant to the criteria that most people (including historical materialists and social revolutionaries) use in judging whether 3Among these are the physicist Freeman Dyson; Francis Collins, the director of the U.S. government’s Human Genome Project; and the philosopher of science, Michael Ruse. A resource for the views of religion-friendly scientists and philosophers, as well as those of some nonbelievers, is ‘‘Meaning of Life TV’’ (http:// meaningoflife.tv), a series of video interviews by Robert Wright on Slate.com. 4The title of the manuscript sent by Alfred Russel Wallace to Charles Darwin in 1858, spurring the latter’s publication of his own, similar, theory of evolution, was ‘‘On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type,’’ Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Vol. 3, 1858, p. 53. The malleability of organismal type, despite experience to the contrary, remains a tenet of the neo-Darwinian synthesis. 5George Monbiot, ‘‘A Life Without Meaning,’’ The Guardian, August 16, 2005. 100 STUART A. NEWMAN their lives and actions are meaningful. Moreover, Darwinism itself, which concerns populations of organisms, not molecules, has nothing at all to do with these issues, except in an ideological sense (see below). The failure to persuade of thumbs-in-the- eye like Monbiot’s, or similar ones by such arch-Darwinists as Richard Dawkins,6 is therefore not surprising, and this is not just a matter of the obduracy of fundamentalists. The program of advancing materialism against supernaturalism and super- stition is clearly a necessary one. But in making the case for a scientific narrative of ancient events with people who do not have a big incentive to relinquish what their parents and churches have told them, it is helpful at least to have a persuasive theory of how life forms and how the characteristics of individual organisms originated. Does Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection meet this standard? The answer is a mixed one. Incremental changes in an existing biological structure*the alterations in beak shape of the finches that so impressed Charles Darwin during his voyage to the Galapagos Islands, for instance*can indeed be attributed to natural selection. Even most creationists do not deny this. But when it comes to the innovation of entirely new structures (‘‘morphological novelties’’) such Downloaded By: [Newman, Stuart A.] At: 18:37 22 February 2008 as segmentally organized bodies (seen in earthworms, insects, and vertebrates such as humans, but not jellyfish or molluscs), or the hands and feet of tetrapods (vertebrates with four limbs), Darwin’s mechanism comes up short. This is a reality that is increasingly acknowledged by biologists, particularly those working in the field of evolutionary developmental biology, or ‘‘EvoDevo.’’ Contrary to the expectations of the Darwinian model, the fossil record is deficient in transitional forms between organisms distinguished from one another by the presence or absence of major innovations. Niles Eldredge and the late Stephen Jay Gould emphasized this point when they propounded their scenario of ‘‘punctuated equilibria’’ almost four decades ago.7 And although our current knowledge of the cellular and genetic mechanisms of the development of animal forms is relatively sophisticated, it is difficult to come up with plausible scenarios involving incremental changes in developmental processes that would take an organism from one adult form (e.g., an unsegmented worm) to one embodying an innovation (a segmented worm). While evolutionary innovation is therefore a conspicuous problem for Darwinian gradualism, more satisfactory scientific accounts of this process have emerged from recent work in developmental biology. Significantly, these alternatives do not conform to the notion that form and structure in the living world result from 6Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006). 7Niles Eldredge and Stephen J. Gould, ‘‘Punctuated Equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism,’’ in Thomas J.M. Schopf (ed.), Models in Paleobiology (San Francisco: Freeman Cooper, 1972), pp. 82Á115. EVOLUTION 101 a purely opportunistic process of culling among random variants, a doctrine Gould called ‘‘Darwinian fundamentalism.’’8 The example of segmentation in vertebrates illustrates the scientifically more incisive view of innovation that
Argumentation and Fallacies in Creationist Writings Against Evolutionary Theory Petteri Nieminen1,2* and Anne-Mari Mustonen1
Nieminen and Mustonen Evolution: Education and Outreach 2014, 7:11 http://www.evolution-outreach.com/content/7/1/11 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Argumentation and fallacies in creationist writings against evolutionary theory Petteri Nieminen1,2* and Anne-Mari Mustonen1 Abstract Background: The creationist–evolutionist conflict is perhaps the most significant example of a debate about a well-supported scientific theory not readily accepted by the public. Methods: We analyzed creationist texts according to type (young earth creationism, old earth creationism or intelligent design) and context (with or without discussion of “scientific” data). Results: The analysis revealed numerous fallacies including the direct ad hominem—portraying evolutionists as racists, unreliable or gullible—and the indirect ad hominem, where evolutionists are accused of breaking the rules of debate that they themselves have dictated. Poisoning the well fallacy stated that evolutionists would not consider supernatural explanations in any situation due to their pre-existing refusal of theism. Appeals to consequences and guilt by association linked evolutionary theory to atrocities, and slippery slopes to abortion, euthanasia and genocide. False dilemmas, hasty generalizations and straw man fallacies were also common. The prevalence of these fallacies was equal in young earth creationism and intelligent design/old earth creationism. The direct and indirect ad hominem were also prevalent in pro-evolutionary texts. Conclusions: While the fallacious arguments are irrelevant when discussing evolutionary theory from the scientific point of view, they can be effective for the reception of creationist claims, especially if the audience has biases. Thus, the recognition of these fallacies and their dismissal as irrelevant should be accompanied by attempts to avoid counter-fallacies and by the recognition of the context, in which the fallacies are presented.
Philosophy 1104: Critical Thinking Answers to Practice Quiz #2 [Total: 50 marks] 1. In which of the following pairs of propositions does A provide conclusive evidence for B? Also say whether or not A provides at least some evidence, no matter how weak (i.e. say whether A is positively relevant to B). Write just „Yes‟ or „No‟ in each column provided. A B Conclusive Some evidence? evidence? (i) Fred just hit a hole-in-one Fred is a very good golfer No Yes (ii) I have between 4 and 6 eggs I have at least 3 eggs Yes (iii) I have at least 4 eggs I have 5 or more eggs No Yes (iv) It‟s not the case that every Every politician is honest No Yes politician is corrupt. (v) Janet likes listening to Jazz Vancouver is west of Calgary No No (vi) Simpson is a world-class skier Simpson is a non-smoker No Yes (vii) We‟re having fish for supper We‟re having trout for supper No Yes (viii) Qin‟s theory is rejected by all Qin‟s theory is false No Yes relevant scientific authorities (ix) Sally is a Catholic Sally has eight children No Yes (x) Ali stabbed a man in Vernon, Ali first entered Canada in No No B.C. in 1998. 2002. [1 mark each] In rows where you say ‘yes’ in the first column, you should of course say ‘yes’ in the second as well! Or just leave the second column blank, if you prefer. 2. Each of the following definitions is flawed in some way (each in just one way, I think, or at least one main one).
Probability, Statistics, Evolution, and Intelligent Design
Probability, Statistics, Evolution, and Intelligent Design Peter Olofsson n the last decades, arguments against Darwinian evolution An ID Hypothesis Testing Challenge to Evolution have become increasingly sophisticated, replacing Cre- In his book The Design Inference, William Dembski introduces ationism by Intelligent Design (ID) and the book of Genesis I the “explanatory filter” as a device to rule out chance expla- by biochemistry and mathematics. As arguments claiming to nations and infer design of observed phenomena. The filter be based in probability and statistics are being used to justify also appears in his book No Free Lunch, where the description the anti-evolution stance, it may be of interest to readers of differs slightly. In essence, the filter is a variation on statistical CHANCE to investigate methods and claims of ID theorists. hypothesis testing with the main difference being that it aims at ruling out chance altogether, rather than just a specified Probability, Statistics, and Evolution null hypothesis. Once all chance explanations have been ruled The theory of evolution states in part that traits of organisms out, ‘design’ is inferred. Thus, in this context, design is merely are passed on to successive generations through genetic mate- viewed as the complement of chance. rial and that modifications in genetic material cause changes To illustrate the filter, Dembski uses the example of in appearance, ability, function, and survival of organisms. Nicholas Caputo, a New Jersey Democrat who was in charge Genetic changes that are advantageous to successful repro- of putting together the ballots in his county. Names were to be duction over time dominate and new species evolve.
1 SWEENEY, DAVIDIAN, & GREENE LLP James F. Sweeney (SBN 124527) 2 Ben Davidian (SBN 94965) Stephen J. Greene, Jr. (SBN 178098) 3 Stephen R. McCutcheon, Jr. (SBN 191749) 8001 Folsom Boulevard, Ste. 101 4 Sacramento, CA 95826 Telephone: (916) 388-5170 5 Facsimile: (916) 388-0357 6 Attorneys for Real Parties In Interest 7 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 8 COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO 9 UNLIMITED JURISDICTION 10 PAUL BERG, Ph.D; ROBERT N. KLEIN; and ) Case No. 04CS01015 11 LARRY GOLDSTEIN ) 8001 ) DECLARATION OF DR. STUART A. S S ACRAMENTO WEENEY 12 ) NEWMAN, PH.D. IN OPPOSITION TO Petitioners, F ) PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE OLSOM A 13 ) AND ALTERNATIVE WRIT OF TTORNEYS AT v. , D ) MANDATE/ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE AVIDIAN B 14 ) , OULEVARD KEVIN SHELLEY, Secretary of State of C ) Hearing Date: August 4, 2004 ALIFORNIA 15 California, ) Time: 1:30 p.m. & ) Dept.: 11 G 16 ) Judge: Hon. Gail Ohanesian L Respondent. AW REENE , ) S UITE 17 ) 95826 GEOFF BRANDT, State Printer; TOM LLP MCCLINTOCK; H. REX GREENE; JOHN M. ) 101 18 ) MORLACH; JUDY NORSIGIAN; FRANCINE ) 19 COETAUX; TINA STEVENS; DOES I through ) X, inclusive; ) 20 ) Real Parties in Interest ) 21 ) 22 23 I, STUART A. NEWMAN, depose, declare, and state as follows: 24 1. I am a member of the faculty in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at 25 the New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. I am not party to the instant proceeding. 26 If called as a witness, I could competently testify to the following from own personal knowledge.
activities of the Inhalt Contents Seite Page 2 1 Jahresrückblick und Struktur des KLI Review 2010 and Structure of the KLI 6 2 Projekte Projects 2.1 Bewerbungen / Applications 2.2 Junior Gastwissenschaftler / Junior Visiting Fellows 2.3 Postdoktoranden-Stipendien / Postdoctoral Fellowships 2.4 Senior Stipendiaten / Senior Fellows 2.5 Austausch-Stipendium / Exchange Felllowship 2.6 Gastwissenschaftler / Visiting Scientists 32 3 Wissenschaftliche Veranstaltungen Meetings and Lectures 3.1 Altenberg Workshops 3.2 Symposia 3.3 Rupert Riedl Lecture 3.4 Mittagsdiskussionen / Brown Bag Discussions 50 4 Publikationen Publications 4.1 Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology 4.2 Sammelbände und Bücher / Edited Volumes and Books 4.3 Fachartikel / Professional Papers 4.4 Artikel im Druck / Papers in Press 4.5 Zeitschrift Biological Theory / Journal 4.6 Vorträge und Kongressbeiträge / Scientific Presentations 70 5 Weitere Aktivitäten Further Activities 5.1 EASPLS Graduate Meeting 5.2 Zusätzliche Förderungen Jahresrückblick und Struktur des KLI Review 2010 and Structure of the KLI 61 Through its in-house activities and freshly conceived workshops and seminar series the KLI has uniquely provided a context for rethinking major questions in developmental, cognitive, and evolutionary biology. Stuart Newman, New York Medical College Jahresrückblick und Struktur des KLI Review 2010 and Structure of the KLI 1.1 Jahresrückblick 2010 The Year in Review Der weltweit zu beobachtende Wandel der akademischen Institutionen hat in 3 den letzten Jahren auch Österreich voll erfasst. Das Gespenst der „Nützlichkeit“ geht um. Teils erzwungen, teils in vorauseilendem bürokratischen Eifer bemessen die Universitäten ihre eigenen Leistungen immer mehr nach ökonomistischen Managementkriterien. Die eigentlichen Aufgaben der akademischen Einrichtun- gen – Erkennen, Verstehen, Analyse, Wissen, Kritik, Diskurs, Bildung – die funda- mental auf intellektueller Unabhängigkeit beruhen, werden unter dem Gewicht sogenannter Effizienzkriterien zunehmend zurückgedrängt.
Touro Scholar NYMC Faculty Publications Faculty 11-1-2017 The Evolutionary Origin of Digit Patterning T Stewart Ramray Bhat Stuart Newman New York Medical College Follow this and additional works at: https://touroscholar.touro.edu/nymc_fac_pubs Part of the Developmental Biology Commons, and the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Stewart, T., Bhat, R., & Newman, S. (2017). The Evolutionary Origin of Digit Patterning. EvoDevo, 8, 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-017-0084-8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty at Touro Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in NYMC Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Touro Scholar. For more information, please contact touro.scholar@touro.edu. Stewart et al. EvoDevo (2017) 8:21 DOI 10.1186/s13227-017-0084-8 EvoDevo REVIEW Open Access The evolutionary origin of digit patterning Thomas A. Stewart1,2,5*, Ramray Bhat3 and Stuart A. Newman4 Abstract The evolution of tetrapod limbs from paired fns has long been of interest to both evolutionary and developmental biologists. Several recent investigative tracks have converged to restructure hypotheses in this area. First, there is now general agreement that the limb skeleton is patterned by one or more Turing-type reaction–difusion, or reaction–dif- fusion–adhesion, mechanism that involves the dynamical breaking of spatial symmetry. Second, experimental studies in fnned vertebrates, such as catshark and zebrafsh, have disclosed unexpected correspondence between the devel- opment of digits and the development of both the endoskeleton and the dermal skeleton of fns. Finally, detailed mathematical models in conjunction with analyses of the evolution of putative Turing system components have permitted formulation of scenarios for the stepwise evolutionary origin of patterning networks in the tetrapod limb.
Irreducible Complexity (IC) Has Played a Pivotal Role in the Resurgence of the Creationist Movement Over the Past Two Decades
Irreducible incoherence and Intelligent Design: a look into the conceptual toolbox of a pseudoscience Abstract The concept of Irreducible Complexity (IC) has played a pivotal role in the resurgence of the creationist movement over the past two decades. Evolutionary biologists and philosophers have unambiguously rejected the purported demonstration of “intelligent design” in nature, but there have been several, apparently contradictory, lines of criticism. We argue that this is in fact due to Michael Behe’s own incoherent definition and use of IC. This paper offers an analysis of several equivocations inherent in the concept of Irreducible Complexity and discusses the way in which advocates of the Intelligent Design Creationism (IDC) have conveniently turned IC into a moving target. An analysis of these rhetorical strategies helps us to understand why IC has gained such prominence in the IDC movement, and why, despite its complete lack of scientific merits, it has even convinced some knowledgeable persons of the impending demise of evolutionary theory. Introduction UNTIL ITS DRAMATIC legal defeat in the Kitzmiller v. Dover case, Intelligent Design Creationism (IDC) had been one of the most successful pseudosciences of the past two decades, at least when measured in terms of cultural influence. It is interesting to explore the way this species of creationism had achieved this success, notwithstanding its periodic strategic setbacks as well as its complete lack of scientific merits. Of course, a full explanation would include religious, socio-political, and historical reasons; instead, in this paper, we will take a closer look at the conceptual toolbox and rhetorical strategies of the ID creationist.
Book Reviews Clarity and confusion to overcome various antibiotics, such A review of as chloroquine, and humans have The Edge of Evolution: mutated to generate some measure of The Search for the resistance to malaria (e.g., sickle cell, Limits of Darwinism thalassemia). by Michael J. Behe Behe shows that all the cases of Free Press, New York, adaptation, in both Plasmodium and NY, 2007 humans, are due to breaking things, not creating new complex features. For example, chloroquine resistance Don Batten in Plasmodium is due to a fault in a transport protein that moves the poison his new book by Michael Behe, a into the organism’s vacuole. Behe Tfollow-up to Darwin’s Black Box likens the struggle to trench warfare, (DBB), has created somewhat of a where the defending forces will destroy storm amongst the faithful defenders their own bridge, or blow up a road, of Darwin such as Richard Dawkins, to impede the enemy’s advance. It is Jerry Coyne and Kenneth Miller. They not really an arms race, because in an arms race the opposing forces invent came out with all guns blazing to try overcoming other anti-malarials has to destroy the credibility of this book, new weapons, but the natural processes (‘evolution’) operating in Plasmodium only needed one mutation for each presumably hoping that their dismissive one. This seems like a reasonable vitriol would cause potential readers to and humans have not invented new weapons. explanation for the relative resilience skip reading it. Dawkins claimed that of chloroquine over time compared to Behe had completely departed from the Chloroquine resistance—a other anti-malarials.
Physical Determinants in the Evolution of Development
Postprint, July 5, 2012 Physical Determinants in the Evolution of Development Stuart A. Newman Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595 (914) 594-4048 newman@jnymc.edu One sentence summary: Physical processes mobilized by ancient genes in novel multicellular contexts established morphological templates for subsequent animal evolution. This Week in Science summary: Most animal body plans and morphological motifs arose between 500 and 700 million years ago, during several relatively brief periods of innovation. The genes of the conserved “interaction toolkit,” whose products mediate embryonic morphogenesis and pattern formation, were largely present in the unicellular ancestors of the animals; the next half billion years of evolution failed to generate substantial additional morphological novelty. Stuart Newman reconciles these observations by proposing that physical processes characteristic of chemically and mechanically active soft matter, newly mobilized by the interaction toolkit molecules when they came to function in a multicellular context, originated the motifs of animal form and (with the associated genes), have been the underlying basis of their propagation over the course of evolution. Many of the classic phenomena of early animal development – the formation and folding of distinct germ layers during gastrulation, the convergence and extension movements leading to embryo elongation, the formation of somites (paired blocks of tissue) along the main axis of vertebrate embryos, the generation of the vertebrate limb skeleton, the arrangement of feathers and hairs – have been productively analyzed by mathematical and computational models which treat morphological motifs as expected outcomes of physical process that are generic, i.e., pertaining as well to certain nonliving chemically and mechanically active soft materials (1-6).
Insurgent Science Series Highlighting challenging developments in the conception of nature and science Friday, January 16 th at 1:30 in 68-181 A Pattern Language for Animal Form Stuart Newman Animal body plans and organs emerged during several bursts of concentrated evolutionary change between 500 and 600 million years ago. Many of the key regulatory genes for animal development existed in single-celled ancestors, took on new functions in the multicellular state, and remained relatively unchanged during the explosive diversification of form. This talk will present a theory for the origination of multicellular form in which the major driving force consists of the physical laws inherent to organisms’ mesoscopic materials rather than, as the standard conception of biological evolution holds, genetic change driven by chance. Dr. Newman is professor of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College. He specializes in cellular and molecular mechanisms of vertebrate limb development, physical mechanisms of morphogenesis, and evolution of developmental mechanisms. Wednesday, January 28 th at 1:30pm in 4-231 A Bigger Physics Michael Augros As Erwin Schrödinger wrote in 1951, “The isolated knowledge obtained by a group of specialists in a narrow field has in itself no value whatsoever, but only in its synthesis with all the rest of knowledge”. What could it mean to ‘synthesize’ all of natural science? To what extent is such a thing possible? Why is it desirable? Whose job is it? And how would it relate to mathematics? Come join Dr. Augros to explore the possibility of a general theory of nature. Dr. Augros is a philosopher of science who teaches at the Center for Higher Studies in Thornwood, New York.
Stuart A. Newman New York Medical College International Centre For
Physico-genetic processes of animal development and evolution Stuart A. Newman New York Medical College International Centre for Theoretical Studies Bangalore Program on “Living Matter” April 16, 2018 The Ediacaran and Cambrian Explosions ~570 Mya ~1 Bya ~4 Bya http://geologycafe.com/ The Holozoans Ruiz-Trillo et al. TIG 2007 Monosiga Capsaspora Mesomycetozoea One or more of the extant holozoans and by inference, the unicellular ancestors of the metazoans, contain(ed) genes specifying cadherins, C-type lectins, Notch and Wnt pathway components, Hedgehog and other members of the metazoan developmental-genetic toolkit which eventually came to mediate cell-cell interactions (a.k.a. the “interaction toolkit”). King et al., Nature 451:783; 2008 Shalchian-Tabrizi et al., PLoS ONE 3:e2098; 2008 Sebé-Pedrós et al. eLife 2: e01287; 2013 Origination of highly disparate animal body plans occurred with a pre-existing genetic toolkit and was compressed in time. What additional causal agency was involved? Toolkit-based functionalities in unicellular ancestors of the metazoans Innovation of classical cadherins in the metazoans permitted cells to move autonomously without disrupting the cohesion of the cell mass This created “liquid tissues”: a category of biogeneric matter “Generic” mechanisms of development Form- and pattern-generating processes common to living and nonliving (mesoscale, viscoelastic, excitable) systems “Biogeneric” materials and mechanisms of development Multicellular materials in which cellular systems behave similarly to certain nonliving materials, but utilizing evolved, cell-based response functions Biogeneric materials exhibit forms and patterns resembling those characteristic of generic processes. Some novel genes were associated with emergence of novel biogeneric materials Protocadherins Cell clusters Classical cadherins, Wnt “Liquid tissues” Peroxidasin Vang/Stbm (PCP) (basement “Liquid crystalline” tissues membrane) Planar tissues Galectins, fibronectin, EMT, mesenchyme tenascin SAN Phil.