The principle of ecological assembly

The principle of ecological assembly. According to Andy Clark, the name deliberately echoes the principle of ecological balance.

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An astute cognitive agent tends to recruit whatever combination of resources will solve a problem adequately with minimal effort, on the spot.

…the canny cognizer tends to recruit, on the spot, whatever mix of problem-solving resources will yield an acceptable result with a minimum of effort.

The term “cognizer” appears here, but roughly speaking we can substitute “agent.” It means recruiting even an odd combination (continually moving one’s eyes instead of remembering) if doing so saves effort.

The key phrase is “on the spot,” because it distinguishes the principle of ecological balance from the principle of ecological assembly. The balance among sensation, movement, neural control, body shape, and so on in the former is achieved over long periods through processes such as evolution. The assembly in the latter happens moment by moment.

Since the capacity for ecological assembly itself was presumably acquired through evolutionary adaptation, we should not view the possibilities for ecological assembly as entirely arbitrary.