Pathological Complexity Theory and the Piping Plover

Abstract

Walter Veit has written an important book about his theory of Pathological Complexity positing animals’ life history challenges as the driving force behind the evolution of consciousness. I agree completely with his “bottom-up” approach, emphasizing the animal’s world view and sensory capacities, not human’s, when attempting to understand the many aspects of animal consciousness and their evolution. He has further elucidated the significant attributes of consciousness as proposed by Birch, Schnell, and Clayton. I have applied his Pathological Complexity Thesis to stages in the life history of piping plovers (Charadrius melodus), suggesting the various decisions they are likely to face at each challenge. I then describe several of my field experiments with plovers that imply cognitive and conscious capacities that the plover could use to help master its challenges. The “Safe-Dangerous” experiments with human intruders indicate that a plover can learn to discriminate between potentially “threatening” and “safe” intruders. With non-human intruders too? I also examined whether the plovers’ use of the “Broken Wing Display” can be understood as a purposeful, First Order Intentional behavior, namely, the plover wants to lead an intruder/predator away from its nest/young. In my other research, plovers responded very variably, but seemingly adaptively, to pre-recorded chick distress calls played back in different contexts. Their responses during silent periods following the calls suggest that plovers possess representations encompassing acoustic, visual, and locational elements. I conclude that plovers likely have intentionality, aiding their ability to meet their life challenges.