This article reviews eight proposed strategies for solving the Symbol Grounding Problem (SGP), which was given its classic formulation in Harnad (1990). After a concise introduction, we provide an analysis of the requirement that must be satisfied by any hypothesis seeking to solve the SGP, the zero semantical commitment condition. We then use it to assess the eight strategies, which are organi...

In this paper, the behavior of the pseudopolynomial numerical hull of a square complex matrix with respect to structured perturbations and its radius is investigated.

The genetic code underlying protein synthesis is a canonical example of a degenerate biological system. Degeneracies in physical and biological systems can be lifted by external perturbations, thus allowing degenerate systems to exhibit a wide range of behaviors. Here we show that the degeneracy of the genetic code is lifted by environmental perturbations to regulate protein levels in living ce...

From bird flocks to fish schools, animal groups often seem to react to environmental perturbations as if of one mind. Most studies in collective animal behavior have aimed to understand how a globally ordered state may emerge from simple behavioral rules. Less effort has been devoted to understanding the origin of collective response, namely the way the group as a whole reacts to its environmen...

Robustness is a prominent concept in technical sciences and engineering. It has also been recognized as an important principle in evolutionary biology. In this chapter, it is proposed that the term “robustness” be used to characterize the extent to which a natural or artifi cial system can maintain its function when facing perturbation and that this concept is relevant in considerations of Darw...

The high-frequency measurements of valve activity in bivalves (e.g., valvometry) over a long period of time and in various environmental conditions allow a very accurate study of their behaviors as well as a global analysis of possible perturbations due to the environment. Valvometry uses the bivalve's ability to close its shell when exposed to a contaminant or other abnormal environmental cond...

Extreme environmental perturbations are rare, but may have important evolutionary consequences. Responses to current perturbations may provide important information about the ability of living organisms to cope with similar conditions in the evolutionary past. Radioactive contamination from Chernobyl constitutes one such extreme perturbation, with significant but highly variable impact on local...

Cellular response to genetic and environmental perturbations is often reflected and/or mediated through changes in the metabolism, because the latter plays a key role in providing Gibbs free energy and precursors for biosynthesis. Such metabolic changes are often exerted through transcriptional changes induced by complex regulatory mechanisms coordinating the activity of different metabolic pat...

An adjoint sensitivity analysis of the relaxed Arakawa–Schubert scheme in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration GEOS-1 GCM with respect to perturbations in large-scale environmental fields was conducted. The response functions were defined as measures of the strength of convective cloud precipitation, the cloud-induced heating and drying (moistening) in both the instantaneous and ti...