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Ignorance can be evolutionarily beneficial.

Jared M Field1,2, Michael B Bonsall2

  • 1Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology Mathematical Institute University of Oxford Oxford UK.

Ecology and Evolution
|January 12, 2018
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Organisms can gain fitness from information, but collecting it has costs. This study shows that sometimes, the cost of information outweighs its benefits, making ignorance advantageous.

Keywords:
Bayes’ theoremignoranceinformationsleepstatistical decision theory

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Information Theory
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Information is increasingly recognized as a resource for increasing organismal fitness.
  • Previous models assumed information collection is cost-free, assigning non-negative reproductive value.
  • The cost of acquiring information has not been adequately incorporated into these models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of information collection costs on its reproductive value.
  • To determine conditions under which the reproductive value of information can be negative.
  • To provide an alternative explanation for phenomena like the breakdown of Bayesian behavior and the evolution of sleep.

Main Methods:

  • Formal modeling of information value incorporating acquisition costs.
  • Analysis of conditions leading to negative reproductive value of information.
  • Linking theoretical results to empirical observations in behavioral ecology.

Main Results:

  • Information collection can incur costs, altering its perceived value.
  • Under certain conditions, the reproductive value of information can be negative.
  • Negative reproductive value implies that remaining ignorant is evolutionarily advantageous.

Conclusions:

  • The cost of information acquisition is a critical factor in determining its evolutionary benefit.
  • Negative reproductive value offers a novel explanation for why organisms may avoid information in complex environments.
  • This framework may illuminate the evolutionary underpinnings of sleep by reframing it as a state of beneficial ignorance.