causal
Agency Evolves to Handle Unpredictability via Decisions
Agency evolves precisely where the environment is unpredictable: nature cannot in principle specify what a squirrel should do with a particular nut in a particular landscape, so instead of determining the action it builds in a decision-making apparatus—the organism gathers information and makes the best decision—meaning the apparatus is evolved/determined but the particular decision on a given occasion is not.
causalpending
Speaker
Michael TomaselloEvidence Quote
“agency evolves when there are unpredictabilities and nature builds in an apparatus for the individual to deal with those unpredictabilities through what I call informed decision making.”
Source
225 | Michael Tomasello on The Social Origins of Cognition and Agency— Sean Carroll's MindscapeCreated: 6/13/2026, 12:05:28 AM
My Notes
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