Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Biological
Machines
Evolve

   Post 100. September 22, 2019 continued . . .

  Body, Soul, and Information

   Living Machines that Evolve

 Another metaphor for Information compares it to the software in a computer. Referring to the bio-chemistry of living creatures, Davies says, “the patterns of information control and organize the chemical activity in the same manner that a program controls the operation of a computer. . . . Biological information is the software of life.” It is also analogous to Logic and Mathematics. And modern computers have allowed scientists to visualize some of the “logic of life”, by creating mathematical programs as “games” that emulate the process of biological evolution. From such exercises, they have determined that “the strictures of logic are compatible with the creation of unpredictable novelty.” Which is a characteristic of living organisms, allowing them to stay one step ahead of order-destroying Entropy.

Living things are also adaptable, in that they can dramatically change their configuration over time. “Of all the astonishing capabilities of life, morphogenesis – the development of form – is one of the most striking.”  Just as an acorn can grow into a mighty oak tree, a single germ cell can evolve from an amorphous blob into a beautiful swan, or a huge elephant, depending on the content of the cell and the context of the environment. We now know that the blueprint or recipe for that transformation is stored in the chemical form of DNA. But the complex stages of development seem so miraculous that it sometimes seems as-if miscellaneous matter is being poured into a mold, rather than being built-up “brick by brick”. The metaphorical mold has been referred as a “morphogenetic field”.3 But Davies asks, “a field of what?” Simply put, it’s a system of contextual data, communicated by the bio-chemistry of surrounding cells, and defining the limits of the space that the expanding cells must conform to. Ultimately, the data are delimited in terms of abstract mathematical ratios and relationships (values, geometry), but the emerging shape itself is made of concrete stuff.

The book has a chapter entitled “Darwinism 2.0”, which updates the 19th century theory of evolution in view of our 21st century understanding of how abstract Information works its magic. At first, the theory was interpreted with emphasis on the randomness of mutations, which provided the options from which Nature “selected” those best suited for the current environment. But now, we can better understand how those adaptive “choices” are made. Davies quotes biologist Eva Jablonski who, “describes adaptive mutations as an ‘informed search’”, concluding that the “evolutionary past has constructed a system that supplies intelligent hints about where and when to generate mutations”. This would have been biological heresy a century ago. But he points to “recent experiments displaying a Lamarckian flavour . . . That nature selected not just the fittest organisms, but the fittest survival strategies too.” From this new evidence, he concludes that, “Life may therefore be described as an informational learning curve that swoops upwards.” But such a description would imply that evolution is progressive and goal-oriented. Which would still sound heretical to orthodox Darwinists.  

                       Post 100 continued . . . click Next

Pouring plaster into a mold to create a bust

3. Morphogenetic Field :
  A hypothetical field, similar to a magnetic field, that was once supposed to guide the formation of organisms into their proper locations, shapes, and inter-connections. There is no detectable field, but it’s the process of enformation via communication between cells that gives the appearance of an invisible mold defining the organism. Spooky!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphogenetic_field

The Demon In The Machine
How the hidden webs of information are solving the mystery of life

Paul Davies
Physicist & Cosmologist

”What gives living things that enigmatic oomph . . .?”