The beginning of the life process is characterized by a most unusual phenomenon. The laws of probability state that as life continues, all things naturally become less organized. For instance, if I take a brand new deck of cards and begin to shuffle, the cards will continually loose their order. The longer I shuffle, the more unorganized the cards will become. However, the development of life works in contrary to the law of probability; life moves from simple to complex, from disorganized to more organized. I will attempt to trace the development of a complex, cognitive mind, from its most rudimentary forms to the complex and rational mind. In order to do so I will first outline the behavioral changes that make the progression of mind possible. I will follow by explaining the development of various learning processes or adaptations that become the components of rational thought. .
I will start with the processes of behavioral change that outline the first developments of rudimentary-organic, or living, organisms. The first change is in the form of natural selection or genomic learning. Living systems all share in their ability to absorb and store energy. Objects can be characterized throughout the process of life by determining how much energy they can absorb. As a living system absorbs energy, it increases its ability to absorb even more energy. So the more a living organism consumes today, the more it will be able to consume tomorrow, and thus it increases the capacity of energy it can store. This marks an important difference between organic and inorganic life. Organic life holds the ability to acquire and store energy. Inorganic life can acquire and transfer energy, however it cannot store that energy. If I kick a soccer ball and apply energy to it, the soccer ball must move, or transfer that energy to another object it comes in contact with. It simply cannot store that energy for future use.