William H. Calvin has constructed a model in which Darwinian competition can lead to sophisticated organization in a chaotic environment. Darwinian competition, in this context, is the sucessive cloning of a pattern through a territory of synaptic connections.
His model relies upon observations of the superficial layers of the neocortex. As we shall concede, the particular properties demonstrated by the cell distribution in this region and their wiring support Calvin's theory. The details of Calvin's claim and the concession are as follows.