ON THE ORIGIN OF SIGN (=IMAGE)
AS A NECESSARY AND (POSSIBLY) SUFFICIENT
CONDITION FOR THE
EVOLUTIONARY ORIGIN OF LIFE
Conjecture
In the process of material/energetic evolution, there must emerge in specific form a system whose relation to other systems is that of a carrier of an image of the interaction between the carrier and the other systems for matter/energy to manifest itself as living. Via the interaction of a system with the carrier, the image can be "read out" to alter the relational architecture of the system. A feature of the image of essential import is its persistence relative to that of the actions which gave rise to it and to that of the interactions the carrier will undergo with other systems. Moreover, it has to be noted that the carrier may hold more than one image, thus leading to various possible relational impressions on an interacting system.
Biophysical/Biochemical Background Research
In the process of material/energetic evolution, there must emerge in specific form a system whose relation to other systems is that of a carrier of an image of the interaction between the carrier and the other systems for matter/energy to manifest itself as living. Via the interaction of a system with the carrier, the image can be "read out" to alter the relational architecture of the system. A feature of the image of essential import is its persistence relative to that of the actions which gave rise to it and to that of the interactions the carrier will undergo with other systems. Moreover, it has to be noted that the carrier may hold more than one image, thus leading to various possible relational impressions on an interacting system.
Biophysical/Biochemical Background Research
Edited by R.Elated from commentary by Thomas Patrick O'Connor on
Harold Morowitz
Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University
The Chart of Intermediary Metabolism connects all the physical/chemical reactions that occur in living organisms. There is only one chart of intermediary metabolism because all living organisms have parts of that same chart. This means we're looking at four-billion-year-old biochemistry—a fossil older than any rock we have--to trace the origins of life using that chart. The analogic here is that the Chart of Intermediary Metabolism is to biology what the Periodic Chart of Elements is to chemistry.
Morowitz , an admirer of the philosophy of the Jesuit theologian and scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, refers to him re: matter has always obeyed 'that great law of biology . . . complexification.' With the emergence of Man, evolutionary development entered a new dimension. From the biosphere (the layer of living things covering the earth) has emerged the noosphere (a mind layer surrounding the earth). This mind layer, human consciousness, generates increasingly complex social arrangements (like the WorldWideWeb) that in turn give rise to a higher (social) consciousness.
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