John K. wrote:
I suspect you didn't mean to say that the internal models don't adapt
over long periods, just that they don't change quickly and thus
sometimes don't adapt to unanticipated sudden changes, right?
The internal predictive models obviously change over "evolutionary
time" but not within the lifetime of one organism. Some organisms can
change, genetically, as they are growing/living. Plants are often
capable of producing what's referred to as a "sport"; a genetically
different new growth which, when cut and rooted, will continue to grow
and reproduce as if it's always been a different plant. This is how
navel oranges were produced, for example. And there are some species
which can spontaneously change gender based on environmental context.
But I don't know how much the models are different in those cases.
That's the kind of question I'd be asking my Dad! It was handy having
a biologist in the family.
Judith