Editing Gregory Bateson (section)

=== The role of somatic change in evolution ===
Bateson writes about how the actual physical changes in the body occur within [[evolutionary]] processes.<ref name="Bateson 1963">{{cite journal |last=Bateson |first=Gregory |title=The Role of Somatic Change in Evolution |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_evolution_1963-12_17_4/page/529 |date=December 1963 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=529–539 |journal=Evolution |jstor=2407104 |doi=10.2307/2407104}}</ref> He describes this through the introduction of the concept of "economics of flexibility".<ref name="Bateson 1963"/> In his conclusion he makes seven statements or theoretical positions which may be supported by his ideology.

The first is the idea that although environmental stresses have theoretically been believed to guide or dictate the changes in the [[wikt:soma|soma]] (physical body), the introduction of new stresses does not automatically result in the physical changes necessary for survival as suggested by original evolutionary theory.<ref name="Bateson 1963"/> In fact, the introduction of these stresses can greatly weaken the organism.   An example that he gives is the sheltering of a sick person from the weather or the fact that someone who works in an office would have a hard time working as a rock climber and vice versa.  The second position states that "the economics of flexibility has a logical structure-each successive demand upon flexibility fractioning the set of available possibilities".<ref name="Bateson 1963"/> This means that theoretically speaking each demand or variable creates a new set of possibilities.  Bateson's third conclusion is "that the [[genotypic]] change commonly makes demand upon the adjustive ability of the soma".<ref name="Bateson 1963"/> This, he states, is the commonly held belief among biologists although there is no evidence to support the claim.  Added demands are made on the soma by sequential genotypic modifications in the fourth position.  Through this he suggests the following three expectations:<ref name="Bateson 1963"/>

# The idea that organisms that have been through recent modifications will be delicate.
# The belief that these organisms will become progressively harmful or dangerous.
# That over time these new "breeds" will become more resistant to the stresses of the environment and changes in [[genetics|genetic]] traits.

The fifth theoretical position which Bateson believes is supported by his data is that characteristics within an organism that have been modified due to environmental stresses may coincide with genetically determined attributes.<ref name="Bateson 1963"/> His sixth position is that it takes less economic flexibility to create somatic change than it does to cause a genotypic modification.  The seventh and final theory he believes to be supported is the idea that, on rare occasions there will be populations whose changes will not be in accordance with the thesis presented within this paper.  According to Bateson, none of these positions (at the time) could be tested but he called for the creation of a test which could possibly prove or disprove the theoretical positions suggested within.<ref name="Bateson 1963"/>