Thinker

Primary Field

Key Concept

Relevance to the Knowledge Force Hypothesis (KF-H)

Richard Dawkins

Evolutionary Biology

The Selfish Gene

Frames genes as replicators of information (knowledge) about survival, with organisms as their "survival machines." Establishes DNA as the first great knowledge substrate.

David Deutsch

Physics

The Beginning of Infinity

Argues that evolution is one of two known processes (the other being human thought) that creates explanatory knowledge. Highlights the fundamental significance of the evolutionary process.

Donald Campbell

Philosophy of Science

Evolutionary Epistemology

Posits that all knowledge acquisition, from biology to science, follows a "blind variation and selective retention" model. Provides the core mechanism for how evolution "learns."

Stanislas Dehaene

Cognitive Neuroscience

Neuronal Recycling

Shows that the brain adapts to new cultural inventions (like reading) by repurposing existing neural circuits, proving knowledge actively shapes its substrate and justifying the "catalysator" concept.

Michael Tomasello

Developmental Psychology

Shared Intentionality

Argues that unique human cognition evolved for cooperation and cultural learning, highlighting how the Knowledge Force is amplified by social networks and connectivity.

Stephen Jay Gould

Paleontology

Contingency in Evolution

Provides a crucial counterpoint that evolution is not a linear "march of progress," forcing the KF-H to be framed as an emergent tendency over vast timescales, not a predetermined destiny.

Daniel Dennett

Philosophy of Mind

Memes

Proposes that ideas ("memes") are cultural replicators analogous to genes, representing the next substrate transition for the Knowledge Force, from biology to culture.

Alan Turing

Mathematics / Computer Science

Morphogenesis

Demonstrated how complex patterns (information) can arise from simple chemical rules, providing a foundational model from physics/chemistry for the spontaneous emergence of order.