[iv] Book: The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision
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| The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision |
If you are about to start studying biology, Part 3 'A new conception of life' is an excellent introduction to some broad and yet pivotal concepts. I haven't checked the 'current' curricula for biology or human biology, but I suspect there is content provided that may be missing? How are biology curricula characterised? If the 'subject' is comprehensively covered at school - college, there may still be value in the way in which they are presented in TSVoL. And, yes the book is a decade old. There's a step-wise development, that is coherent and fascinating.
The opening sentences to chapter 7, which asks 'What is Life?' :
'7.1 How to characterize the living
It is a common understanding that it is impossible to provide a scientific definition of life which is universally accepted. This stems from the fact that the background of scientists dealing with the question - biologists, chemists. computer scientists, philosophers, astro-biologists, engineers, theologians, social scientists, ecologists differs considerably from one another, depending on one's conceptual framework. In this book, we will not dwell so much on the question of a unique definition of life a single sentence catching all the various aspects of life - but rather, we will consider the more general question: what are the essential characteristics of a living system?' p.129.
- for some reason puts me in Plato's Cave? Maturana and Varela would (and do) have very broad shoulders by now. Autopoiesis is described with structure, systems (of course), self-maintenance, nonlocalization, coupling, and emergent properties. 'Life is a factory that makes itself from within'. p.132. Well that will do me. Even though we talk of political, social and psychological processes, I've always associated the SCIENCES domain of Hodges' model with processes. This includes whether the processes are biological, manufactured by human hand/intellect, such as, industrial working, project management and planning.
For life, initial descriptions concern the cell, DNA, RNA, cell walls and the cellular logic of life. Key is life's interaction with the environment. This is emphasised 7.2.4 and 7.4. I gained a lot of encouragement from:
'According to Maturana and Varela (1980, 1998), the organism interacts with the environment in a "cognitive" way whereby the organism "creates" its own environment and the environment permits the actualization of the organism.' p.134.
It is not just mind - but 'embodied mind'. The joy (for Hodges' model) continues with the impact of social autopoiesis in the social sciences.
'While behaviour in the physical domain is governed by the "laws of nature,' behavior in the social domain is governed by rules generated in the social system itself.
Thus, two questions arise: is it meaningful to apply the concept of autopoiesis to these domains at all, and, if so, to which domain should it be applied?' pp.136-37.
It's almost like Descartes has taken on a quantum property. We don't know when life is physical (time, space, velocity) and when it is mental - cognitive? Contemplating life, death is never far behind (taxes p.419 if you're wondering). The ethics of death and dying are acknowledged in medical intervention (or not) and religious beliefs and edicts. Again the figures are helpful, illustrating the dynamic modes of an autopoietic unit: homeostasis, reproduction, and death of a cell (p.138). The trilogy of life then is also illustrated as environment, cognition, and autopoietic unit (p.142). When it comes to knowledge domains (social science & ecology) are clearly ubiquitous too.
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| Concepts of Modern Mathematics Ian Stewart, 1975 |
It is Chapter 8 that delivers the biological goods. Beginning with a fascinating account of molecular, or prebiotic evolution, giving rise to biological structures and the interplay of soaps and lipids - "amphiphilic" substances, with molecules that contain a hydrophilic (water loving) head group, and long hydrophobic (water-hating) chains. Well illustrated too, box 8.1 describes 'Surfactants, lipids, and liposomes'. Self-organization, emergence are skillfully threaded together and with creativity - the generation of new forms. Unsurprisingly, Gaia is highlighted 8.3.3 and in a guest essay 'Daisyworld' by Stephen Harding of Schumacher College; which also reminded me of the 1970's BBC drama 'Edge of Darkness'. Maths has another turn in the text; a chiral one. Biomathematics is posited as a new mathematics frontier: here - the numerology of plant growth, the golden section (there's one primary context?), nature's spirals, and symmetry breaking. This helps my current return to maths (the struggle!) trying to get to grips with basic concepts. Ian Stewart is cited, later work than 1975's 'Concepts' I must seek out the 'Mathematics of Life' 2011/12.
Darwin, the resulting biological revolution, history, polymers, peptides and proteins plus DNA and RNA continue a suitably in-depth treatment of 'life' in chapter 9. The conclusion on Darwinism today and the status of genes in science and relation to our identity, being and the effect of chance and contingency is worth being reminded of. In mental illness - psychiatry and psychology a sometimes vitriolic debate continues. Commercial realities are also apparent, the extent of their influence described: the race to map the human genome. In the text protein folding has advanced markedly since the book's original publication. Now new commercial pressures allied with artificial intelligence make you wonder how the author's would deal with this new 'content'? Exobiologists will enjoy chapter 10 as the focus is planetary: the origins of life on Earth. Useful, basic chemistry figures here - informational and functional (concentration). The notion of 'cognitive' is raised again - information carrying.
While we are concerned for all life, chapter 11 takes in the human adventure, including the determinants of being human. 'Determinants' have taken on more import today. Chapter 12 in addressing 'Mind and consciousness' is helpful in the approach, the easy and hard problems of consciousness, types of consciousness, schools study. There is another guest essay. Chapters 13-15 deal with spirituality (inc. eco-literacy); life mind and society (I wonder if topology does have a role in the mental realm? (p.311). Chapter 15 is a gift for healthcare professionals - 'The systems view of health' with the question, 'What is health?'. Not to diminish this statement, but I will return to this subsequently; whether in the closing post for this 'review,' or afterwards. This completes part III of what is a great read.
Many thanks again to CUP for the paperback copy, much easier on the eyes. While this copy is new, I do make extensive use of secondhand books.
https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/life-sciences/genomics-bioinformatics-and-systems-biology/systems-view-life-unifying-vision?format=HB&isbn=9781107011366
orcid.org/0000-0002-0192-8965