The implications for understanding high-level cognition of a grounding in elementary adaptive systems

There is a certain tendency to consider that, whereas approaches based on artificial life may be appropriate for lower-level cognition, the computational theory of mind based primarily on the manipulation of symbolic representations is the only possible approach to high-level cognition. This article contests that view, and argues that an approach to cognition rooted in elementary living organisms leads to a radically new understanding of phenomena such as communication, representation, intentional action and language.