Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Mate Choice

Mate Choice

Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.

Personal Choice and Fate Attributions

Personal Choice and Fate Attributions

Some individuals interpret life events as a consequence of their personal choices and actions, while others believe that outcomes are dictated by fate or destiny. This divergence in perspective has been examined in psychological and cross-cultural studies, particularly in relation to religious faith and cultural beliefs about causality.Fate and Personal ResponsibilityPeople who emphasize personal responsibility view events as direct consequences of their decisions. For instance, breaking a leg...

Levels of Organization

Levels of Organization

Biological organization is the classification of biological structures, ranging from atoms at the bottom of the hierarchy to the Earth's biosphere. Each level of the hierarchy represents an increase in complexity that builds upon the previous level.
Molecules Are Composed of Atoms, and Biomolecules Are Assembled from Molecules:
The most basic levels include atoms, molecules, and biomolecules. Atoms, the smallest unit of ordinary matter, are composed of a nucleus and electrons. Molecules...

Accessory Organs

Accessory Organs

Accessory organs are those that participate in the digestion of food but do not come into direct contact with it like the mouth, stomach, or intestine do. Accessory organs secrete enzymes into the digestive tract to facilitate the breakdown of food.

Organic Compounds

Organic Compounds

All living things are formed mostly of carbon compounds called organic compounds. The category of organic compounds includes both natural and synthetic compounds that contain carbon. Although a single, precise definition has yet to be identified by the chemistry community, most agree that a defining trait of organic molecules is the presence of carbon as the principal element, bonded to hydrogen and other carbon atoms. However, some carbon-containing compounds such as carbonates, cyanides, and...

Transgenic Organisms

Transgenic Organisms

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

How physiology solves the gene-centric impasse.

Experimental physiology·2026

Same author

The principles of systems biology.

Experimental physiology·2026

Same author

There are more things in heaven and Earth than we dream of in our physiology.

The Journal of physiology·2025

Same author

The cardiac pacemakers: A paradigm of robustness in evolutionary biology.

The Journal of physiology·2025

Same author

Extracellular Vesicles as Targeted Communicators in Complementary Medical Treatments.

International journal of molecular sciences·2025

Same author

New lessons from biology for economics and business: a systems approach to non-market environments.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2024

Same journal

Topological dependence of viral mutation spread in complex host-interaction networks.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

Same journal

Multifractal signatures of Hamiltonian chaos in Hyperion's rotational dynamics.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

Same journal

Exploring mechanisms for reversal of flow in tunicate hearts.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

Same journal

State estimation in spatiotemporal chaos via low-rank StatFEM.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

Same journal

Universal response functions in driven dissipative tunneling dynamics.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

Same journal

A network-based approach to characterize the dynamics of the coupling field of thermoacoustic oscillators in annular geometry.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Step-by-Step Guide for Harnessing Organic Light Emitting Diodes by Solution Processed Device Fabrication of a TADF Emitter

Step-by-Step Guide for Harnessing Organic Light Emitting Diodes by Solution Processed Device Fabrication of a TADF Emitter

Published on: November 7, 2025

Harnessing stochasticity: How do organisms make choices?

Raymond Noble¹, Denis Noble²

¹Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London WC1E 6AU, UK.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)

|November 3, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Organisms harness unpredictable randomness (stochasticity) to generate diverse behavioral solutions. A decision-making process then selects the optimal response, explaining how choices become rational in hindsight.

More Related Videos

Choice and No-Choice Assays for Testing the Resistance of A. thaliana to Chewing Insects

Choice and No-Choice Assays for Testing the Resistance of A. thaliana to Chewing Insects

Published on: May 14, 2008

Stochastic Noise Application for the Assessment of Medial Vestibular Nucleus Neuron Sensitivity In Vitro

Stochastic Noise Application for the Assessment of Medial Vestibular Nucleus Neuron Sensitivity In Vitro

Published on: August 28, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Step-by-Step Guide for Harnessing Organic Light Emitting Diodes by Solution Processed Device Fabrication of a TADF Emitter

Step-by-Step Guide for Harnessing Organic Light Emitting Diodes by Solution Processed Device Fabrication of a TADF Emitter

Published on: November 7, 2025

Choice and No-Choice Assays for Testing the Resistance of A. thaliana to Chewing Insects

Choice and No-Choice Assays for Testing the Resistance of A. thaliana to Chewing Insects

Published on: May 14, 2008

Stochastic Noise Application for the Assessment of Medial Vestibular Nucleus Neuron Sensitivity In Vitro

Stochastic Noise Application for the Assessment of Medial Vestibular Nucleus Neuron Sensitivity In Vitro

Published on: August 28, 2019

Area of Science:

Behavioral Ecology
Systems Biology
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Organismal choice presents a paradox: unpredictable in prospect but rational in retrospect.
Deterministic models struggle to explain the apparent unpredictability of behavioral choices.
Understanding choice mechanisms is crucial for fields ranging from neuroscience to artificial intelligence.

Purpose of the Study:

To resolve the paradox of choice by proposing a novel framework for understanding organismal decision-making.
To elucidate the role of stochasticity and chaotic processes in generating and selecting behavioral strategies.
To provide a theoretical basis for how organisms achieve agency and make adaptive choices.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis integrating principles of stochasticity, chaos theory, and decision-making.
Exploration of how organisms generate multiple potential solutions to environmental challenges.
Postulation of a 'comparator' mechanism for evaluating and selecting among generated solutions.

Main Results:

Organisms leverage stochasticity to produce a repertoire of potential behavioral responses.
A comparator mechanism evaluates these responses against environmental demands, enabling selection.
This process reconciles the unpredictability of solution generation with the retrospective rationality of choice.

Conclusions:

Harnessing stochastic and/or chaotic processes is fundamental to organismal agency and choice.
The proposed framework explains how unpredictable novelty leads to comprehensible, adaptive decisions.
This perspective offers new insights into the evolution of complex behaviors and decision-making systems.