A Self-Knowledge Minimal Circuit Emerges From Blind Randomness and Environmental Feedback

Collective biological systems can exhibit surprisingly rich macroscopic adaptive behaviors from their relatively simple components. These behaviors often resemble sensing, cognition, and ecological interaction, as in higher-order organisms. Unfortunately, a normative model explaining cognitive behaviors from the interactions of simple elements is not yet available. We hypothesize here that minimal self-knowledge can be observed from local interactions between simple components if two conditions are given: (i) self-generated, globally shared information and (ii) higher-order feedback loops emerging from the actions of simple elements. To evaluate the hypothesis, a discrete-time, discrete-space computational simulation is developed, modeling simple particles discharging a chemical-like substance (pheromone). The results indicate that unstructured variations introduced through random movements of particles across the arena enabled the formation of clusters with complex, emergent behaviors. Under the hypothesized conditions, these results indicate that a minimal form of self-knowledge emerges, representing a primitive self-definition.