Editing Neural Darwinism (section)

== Introduction to neural Darwinism ==

Neural Darwinism is really the neural part of the natural philosophical and explanatory framework Edelman employs for much of his work – Somatic selective systems. Neural Darwinism is the backdrop for a comprehensive set of biological [[hypotheses]] and [[theories]] Edelman, and his team, devised that seek to reconcile [[vertebrate]] and [[mammalian]] neural [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]], the facts of [[Developmental biology|developmental]] and [[evolutionary biology]], and the theory of [[natural selection]]{{sfn|Darwin|1859}} into a detailed model of real-time neural and [[Cognitive skill|cognitive function]] that is biological in its orientation. It is built from the [[Top-down and bottom-up design|bottom-up]] utilizing the variation that shows up in [[nature]]. This is in contrast to computational and algorithmic approaches that view variation as noise in a system of [[logic circuits]] with point-to-point connectivity.

The book, ''Neural Darwinism – The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection'' (1987), is the first in a trilogy of books that Edelman wrote to delineate the scope and breadth of his ideas on how a biological theory of [[consciousness]] and [[Evolutionary developmental biology|animal body plan evolution]] could be developed in a bottom-up fashion. In accordance with principles of [[population biology]] and Darwin's theory of natural selection – as opposed to the top-down [[Algorithmics|algorithmic]] and [[computation]]al approaches that dominated a nascent [[cognitive psychology]] at the time.

The other two volumes are ''Topobiology – An Introduction to Molecular Embryology'' {{sfn|Edelman|1988}} (1988) with its morpho-regulatory hypothesis of animal body plan development and evolutionary diversification via differential expression of cell surface molecules during development; and ''The Remembered Present – A Biological Theory of Consciousness''{{sfn|Edelman|1989}} (1989) – a novel biological approach to understanding the role and function of "consciousness" and its relation to cognition and behavioral physiology.

Edelman would write four more books for the general lay public, explaining his ideas surrounding how the brain works and consciousness arises from the physical organization of the brain and body – ''Bright Air, Brilliant Fire – On the Matter of the Mind''{{sfn|Edelman|1992}} (1992), ''A Universe of Consciousness – How Matter Becomes Imagination''{{sfn|Edelman|Tononi|2000}} (2000) with Giulio Tononi, ''Wider Than The Sky – The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness''{{sfn|Edelman|2004}} (2004), and ''Second Nature – Brain Science and Human Knowledge''{{sfn|Edelman|2006}} (2006).

Neural Darwinism is an exploration of biological thought and [[philosophy]] as well as fundamental [[science]]; Edelman being well-versed in the history of science, [[natural philosophy]] & [[medicine]], as well as [[robotics]], [[cybernetics]], [[computing]] & [[artificial intelligence]].  In the course of laying out the case for neural Darwinism, or more properly TNGS, Edelman delineates a set of concepts for rethinking the problem of [[nervous system]] organization and function – all-the-while, demanding a rigorously scientific criteria for building the foundation of a properly Darwinian, and therefore biological, explanation of neural function, [[perception]], [[cognition]], and global brain function capable of supporting primary and higher-order consciousness.