alt Hacker NewsThat's exactly my point. Competition at the fundamentals is called cancer. It's the exception, not the norm.
Your body prioritizing which parts to keep alive for the survival of the whole ship is not an example of competition. Competition would be if a body part actively attacked another body part. In this case, survival of the entire body will eventually benefit all body parts
> I guess that depends on what you consider "the edges"
The "edges" as thoroughly defined in the paper I linked. Major evolutionary transitions in individuality (METI). METI is a widely accepted framework in biology
> Competition would be if a body part actively attacked another body part.
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about this. I don't see a lot of daylight between "active attack" and starvation of resources. Just because your attacker chooses to lay siege to you rather than mount a full frontal assault doesn't make them any less of an attacker IMHO.
> The "edges" as thoroughly defined in the paper I linked.
Sorry, I don't see it. AFAICT the word "edges" only appears once in the paper:
"Evolution is a process of continuous change, and so we should expect blurry edges with a mosaic of features (1)."
[UPDATE] Oh, BTW, I think that paper is actually very good. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.