Behaviour and the Origin of Organisms.

Area of Science:

• Origins of life research
• Astrobiology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Prevailing theories view early life as passive environmental responses.
• This perspective overlooks potential active self-preservation mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and define 'viability-based behaviour' as an active regulatory mechanism for early life.
• To explore how such behaviours could precede complex evolutionary processes.
• To reassess the environmental prerequisites for abiogenesis.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual framework development.
• Analysis of empirical data from self-preserving abiological systems.
• Theoretical modeling of environmental regulation in simple entities.

Main Results:

• Viability-based behaviour allows simple entities to adaptively regulate their environment based on internal health.
• This regulation increases survival likelihood.
• These behaviours are sufficiently simple to precede neo-Darwinian evolution.

Conclusions:

• Active environmental regulation by early life forms is a plausible alternative to passive emergence.
• Viability-based behaviour reduces the stringent environmental demands of mainstream abiogenesis theories.
• This shifts focus towards self-organizing principles in the origins of life.