{"id":3822,"date":"2025-06-20T11:44:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T23:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/?p=3822"},"modified":"2025-06-21T20:46:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T08:46:21","slug":"do-living-things-have-an-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Living Things have an Agenda?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png\" alt=\"Living things have an agenda\" class=\"wp-image-3732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png 750w, https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled-225x300.png 225w, https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled-113x150.png 113w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Living things have an agenda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8216;Do Living things have an Agenda?&#8217; is Part Eight <strong>of our \u2018Life\u2019<\/strong> <strong>Series<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, &#8216;Do living things have an agenda?&#8217;, we continue our series on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/science-topics\/l-science-topics\/#life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Life<\/a>\u201d and our discussion of the ideas in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gxWa6M0BjQM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Addy Pross<\/a>\u2018s recent book, \u201cWhat is Life?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pross describes the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Teleonomy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">teleonomic<\/a> character of life as its most amazing property. But what is teleonomy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teleonomy<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Wikipedia&#8217;s definition: &#8220;<strong>Teleonomy<\/strong> is the quality of apparent purposefulness and of goal-directedness of structures and functions in living organisms brought about by natural processes like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Natural_Selection\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">natural selection<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wikipedia article goes on to explain that: &#8220;Teleonomy is thought to derive from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Evolution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">evolutionary<\/a> history, adaptation for <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Reproductive_success\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reproductive success<\/a>, and\/or the operation of a program. Teleonomy is related to programmatic or computational aspects of purpose&#8221;. The article explains the difference between &#8216;teleonomy&#8217; and &#8216;teleology&#8217;; they are not the same!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This teleonomy of living things leads Pross to say: &#8220;&#8230; both the structure and the behaviour of all living things lead to an unambiguous and unavoidable conclusion &#8211; living things have an &#8216;agenda&#8217;. Living things act on their own behalf&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opinions on Teleonomy<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>As the Wikipedia article on teleonomy indicates, the concept of teleonomy is not simple. Several deep thinkers and experts on matters relating to teleonomy have contributed to the subject, some are quoted in the Wikipedia article. For example: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Colin_Pittendrigh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Colin Pittendrigh<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ernst_Mayr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ernst Mayr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Dawkins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Richard Dawkins<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Christopher_Williams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">George C. Williams<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jacques_Monod\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jacques Monod<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ernest_Nagel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ernest Nagel<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Hull_(philosopher)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Hull<\/a>, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Colin Pittendrigh<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the web site <a href=\"https:\/\/www.informationphilosopher.com\/solutions\/scientists\/pittendrigh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.informationphilosopher.com<\/a>, Pittendrigh&#8217;s great contribution to the philosophy of biology was the &#8220;&#8230; first use of the term &#8220;teleonomy&#8221; to distinguish the appearance of purpose in biological evolution, specifically Darwinian natural selection, from the ancient idea of &#8220;teleology,&#8221; Aristotle&#8217;s &#8220;telos&#8221; or &#8220;final cause,&#8221; a cosmic purpose pre-existing the appearance of life.&#8221; This site quotes Pittendrigh as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Today the concept of adaptation is beginning to enjoy an improved respectability for several reasons: it is seen as less than perfect; natural selection is better understood; and the engineer-physicist in building end-seeking automata has sanctified the use of teleological jargon. It seems unfortunate that the term &#8216;teleology&#8217; should be resurrected and, as I think, abused in this way. The biologists&#8217; long-standing confusion would be more fully removed&#8221; <em>if<\/em> &#8220;all end-directed systems were described by some other term, like &#8216;teleonomic&#8217;, in order to emphasize that the recognition and description of end-directedness does not carry a commitment to Aristotelian teleology as an efficient [sic] casual principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Adaptation, Natural Selection, and Behavior<\/em>, in Anne Roe and George Gaylord Simpson (eds.), Behavior and Evolution (New Haven, 1958), 390-416.,&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jacques Monod<\/h5>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250px-Jacques_Monod_nobel.jpg\" alt=\"Jacques Monod\" class=\"wp-image-3837\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250px-Jacques_Monod_nobel.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250px-Jacques_Monod_nobel-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250px-Jacques_Monod_nobel-106x150.jpg 106w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jacques Monod<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It is useful to consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.informationphilosopher.com\/solutions\/scientists\/monod\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Monod<\/a>&#8216;s Opinion on the matter of teleonomy. The reference to Monod by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.informationphilosopher.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.informationphilosopher.com<\/a> is worth studying. It begins by referencing Jacques Monod&#8217;s 1970 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com.au\/N%C3%A9cessit%C3%A9-philosophie-naturelle-biologie-Sciences-ebook\/dp\/B00R34UQ2I\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">book<\/a>, which is discussed in the English language Wikipedia article: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chance_and_Necessity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chance and Necessity<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ernst Mayr<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Mayr contributed to the teleonomy discussion with his paper in 1974, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/667042649\/Ernst-Mayr-Teleological-and-Teleonomic-A-New-Analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teleological and Teleonomic, a New Analysis<\/a>&#8220;. This paper appears in the collection of papers &#8220;Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol XIV&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wikipedia Article on Monod&#8217;s Book<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wikipedia article, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chance_and_Necessity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chance and Necessity<\/a><\/em>, summarises Monod&#8217;s first chapter, <em>Of strange objects<\/em>, and at the end of this summary makes the observation: &#8220;Here the author restates that nature is objective and does not pursue an end or have a purpose and he points out an apparent &#8220;epistemological [the study of the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge] contradiction&#8221; between the teleonomic character of living organisms and the principle of objectivity. With that cliffhanger of internal intellectual struggle Monod ends chapter one.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suffice to say, a study of teleonomy and the nature of life would not be complete without reading Monod&#8217;s thoughts on teleonomy found within his original book, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com.au\/N%C3%A9cessit%C3%A9-philosophie-naturelle-biologie-Sciences-ebook\/dp\/B00R34UQ2I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Le Hasard et la Necessite<\/a>&#8220;, or its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com.au\/Chance-Necessity-Natural-Philosophy-Biology\/dp\/0394466152\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">English translation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ernest Nagel<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Nagel contributed to the debate in 1977 with his paper, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2025745\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Goal-Directed Processes in Biology<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">David Hull<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Hull contributed to the discussion on teleonomy in his paper, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/philpapers.org\/rec\/HULPOB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Philosophy of Biological Science<\/a>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recent Discussion on Teleonomy<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>There has been more recent discussion on the topic of teleonomy. For example Chelsea Ekwughalu published a paper, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.library.columbia.edu\/index.php\/cusj\/blog\/view\/538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">War of the Words: Teleology vs. Teleonomy in Biological Cognition<\/a>&#8220;, in the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In conclusion, Ekwughalu&#8217;s paper&#8217;s penultimate paragraph seems particularly pertinent to the debate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Although many cognitive scientists acknowledge that the question of exactly how human cognition is produced by the brain is a difficult, unsolved problem, they are skeptical of all forms of teleology due to how ingrained anti-teleological sentiment is in biology circles\u2014and for good reason. Teleology can inspire hypotheses about the origin of specific traits and help students understand new topics as long as it remains metaphorical. However, since Ancient Greece, teleology has been associated with everything from the philosophical idea that the universe is a living organism to the idea that humans are designed to be moral creatures (Galli &amp; Meinardi, 2010). If teleology is used without limitations, students and teachers will have a difficult time distinguishing useful teleonomic thoughts that act as metaphors from sketchy, teleological hypotheses that assume an equivalence between humans and other organisms (Dresow &amp; Love, 2023).&nbsp;&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ekwughalu then concludes the paper as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In order to simplify biology education and emphasize the differences between biological processes and human cognition, teleological thinking must be reframed as an extensive metaphor and understood as teleonomy. By doing so, students can better understand and appreciate the complexity of living organisms without imposing human-like goals and characteristics onto them. This reframing will help foster a more reliable understanding of biological systems while respecting the unique complexities that shape human behavior and cognition.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please leave your comments in the box below if you are registered on this site. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[<em>Post written on 20\/06\/2025<\/em>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Do Living things have an Agenda?&#8217; is Part Eight of our \u2018Life\u2019 Series In this post, &#8216;Do living things have an agenda?&#8217;, we continue our series on \u201cLife\u201d and our discussion of the ideas in Addy Pross\u2018s recent book, \u201cWhat is Life?\u201d. Pross describes the teleonomic character of life as its most amazing property. But&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Do Living Things have an Agenda?&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,19,25,35,9,11,17,22,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-earth-like-planets","category-exoplanets","category-facebook","category-life","category-non-fiction","category-science-research","category-science-topics","category-seaswell-publishing","category-social-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do living things have an agenda? - Seaswell Publishing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seaswell Publishing, Barrie Cameron, author, non-fiction, biology, what is life? living things have an agenda, beginning of life, teleonomy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do living things have an agenda? - Seaswell Publishing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seaswell Publishing, Barrie Cameron, author, non-fiction, biology, what is life? living things have an agenda, beginning of life, teleonomy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seaswell Publishing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T23:44:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-21T08:46:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ian\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1dff28127e70a4ae030c509bf584689\"},\"headline\":\"Do Living Things have an Agenda?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T23:44:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-21T08:46:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":973,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/20240418_093647_scaled.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Earth-like Planets\",\"Exoplanets\",\"Facebook\",\"life\",\"Non-fiction\",\"Science Research\",\"Science Topics\",\"Seaswell Publishing\",\"Social Media\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/\",\"name\":\"Do living things have an agenda? - Seaswell Publishing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/20240418_093647_scaled.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T23:44:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-21T08:46:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1dff28127e70a4ae030c509bf584689\"},\"description\":\"Seaswell Publishing, Barrie Cameron, author, non-fiction, biology, what is life? living things have an agenda, beginning of life, teleonomy\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/20240418_093647_scaled.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/20240418_093647_scaled.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Living things\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Do Living Things have an Agenda?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/\",\"name\":\"Seaswell Publishing\",\"description\":\"fiction and non-fiction books\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1dff28127e70a4ae030c509bf584689\",\"name\":\"Ian\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/30f79d3860f28bfdda5c3626db0db744c9bb3836e2c75c73a2d6c5e9a6d84c97?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/30f79d3860f28bfdda5c3626db0db744c9bb3836e2c75c73a2d6c5e9a6d84c97?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/30f79d3860f28bfdda5c3626db0db744c9bb3836e2c75c73a2d6c5e9a6d84c97?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ian\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.seaswell.net\\\/publishing\\\/author\\\/bicameron_iiouudsu\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do living things have an agenda? - Seaswell Publishing","description":"Seaswell Publishing, Barrie Cameron, author, non-fiction, biology, what is life? living things have an agenda, beginning of life, teleonomy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do living things have an agenda? - Seaswell Publishing","og_description":"Seaswell Publishing, Barrie Cameron, author, non-fiction, biology, what is life? living things have an agenda, beginning of life, teleonomy","og_url":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/","og_site_name":"Seaswell Publishing","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T23:44:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-21T08:46:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ian","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ian","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/"},"author":{"name":"Ian","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/#\/schema\/person\/f1dff28127e70a4ae030c509bf584689"},"headline":"Do Living Things have an Agenda?","datePublished":"2025-06-19T23:44:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-21T08:46:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/"},"wordCount":973,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png","articleSection":["Earth-like Planets","Exoplanets","Facebook","life","Non-fiction","Science Research","Science Topics","Seaswell Publishing","Social Media"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/","url":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/","name":"Do living things have an agenda? - Seaswell Publishing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png","datePublished":"2025-06-19T23:44:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-21T08:46:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/#\/schema\/person\/f1dff28127e70a4ae030c509bf584689"},"description":"Seaswell Publishing, Barrie Cameron, author, non-fiction, biology, what is life? living things have an agenda, beginning of life, teleonomy","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20240418_093647_scaled.png","width":750,"height":1000,"caption":"Living things"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/do-living-things-have-an-agenda\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do Living Things have an Agenda?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/","name":"Seaswell Publishing","description":"fiction and non-fiction books","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/#\/schema\/person\/f1dff28127e70a4ae030c509bf584689","name":"Ian","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30f79d3860f28bfdda5c3626db0db744c9bb3836e2c75c73a2d6c5e9a6d84c97?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30f79d3860f28bfdda5c3626db0db744c9bb3836e2c75c73a2d6c5e9a6d84c97?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30f79d3860f28bfdda5c3626db0db744c9bb3836e2c75c73a2d6c5e9a6d84c97?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ian"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing"],"url":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/author\/bicameron_iiouudsu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3822"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3857,"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions\/3857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}