VSR-mechanism

The VSR-paradigm is the fundamental hypothesis in evolutionary theory about the mechanism driving evolution and the growth of >knowledge. It is the dynamic correlate of the >population thinking in evolutionary analysis. Its premises are: There must be an abundant source of variety in a population of entities, which receive the impact of selective forces of the environment. These forces determine the differential reproduction and distribution of varieties in the population, if there is another mechanism of storing and transmitting the knowledge contained in the varieties, as defined in their functional relevance for the selection process. This functional relevance is commonly called "adaptation". In these abstract terms, the VSR-paradigm is very close to the standard economic concept of >competition.

The VSR-paradigm is self-referential, that is, the mechanisms working in a VSR process are evolving, too, and are subject to selection. This is particularly true for the mechanism of retention, as, for example, in the case of >culture that has become an important medium of evolution in human societies (as compared to the genetic code).

The application of the VSR paradigm to a specific case requires the analytical distinction between replicators and interactors. The replicator is the carrier of knowledge (hence, an element in economic systems), which generates processes and structures that constitute the interactor, that is, the system/environment interface (in biology, this corresponds to the genotype/phenotype distinction). Selection only impacts on the interactor, whose performance determines the viability and reproduction of the replicator. For example, in EE a base >technology is a replicator which generates patterns of applications in specific environments. These applications are the interactors. Success or failure of applications determine differential reproduction of competing technologies.

The distinction between replicator and interactor implies that the VSR mechanism can be hierarchically ordered. A replicator or a linked set of replicators can be embedded in a structure of layered interactors, that is, ordered system/environment-interfaces. For example, in an agricultural system the replicator of domestic animals is embedded into the human/animal system, the human/human system and the entire local ecological system. Hierarchical VSR processes cannot be treated in a reductionist manner, so that there is no simple measurement of adaptation possible. This kind of nested structure of interactors implies the special mechanism of >group selection, if members of the same population constitute interactors collectively.

In scientific explanations, the VSR-mechanism always needs to be supplemented by additional hypotheses on the mechanisms underlying its constituent processes, as for example selection. In economic systems, this means that other hypotheses can be easily integrated into that general explanatory scheme. For example, the concept of >transaction costs may be used in an application of the VSR mechanism in institutional analysis. Here, transaction costs are a summary variable that reflects all selective forces impacting the evolution of configurations in networks.

One of the most widely used modelling devices for VSR mechanisms in EE is the genetic algorithm.

Basic References

The systemic view of the VSR process is a blend of Darwinism and hierarchy theory. Some important contributions (in particular, Hull’s replicator/interactor distinction) can be found in:
H.C. Plotkin, ed., The Role of Behavior in Evolution. Cambridge/London: MIT Press, 1988.

A classic generalization of the VSR paradigm to human societies is:
Robert Boyd and Peter J. Richerson, Culture and the Evolutionary Process. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 1985.

Another classic on modelling VSR mechanisms is:
John H. Holland, Hidden Order. How Adaptation Builds Complexity, Reading et al.: Addison-Wesley, 1995.

Semantic Field
evolution
VSR-mechanism
population   group selection