[Fis] _ Re: _ Re: _ Re: _ Re: On mathematical theories and models in biology

[Robert E. Ulanowicz]

> Hi Robert,
>
> I haven't read your book yet, but thanks for the link.  You have
> certainly thought through these issues much more deeply than I have and I
> appreciate your perspective.  I am trying to parse the meanings of your
> three fundamentals, so please let me know if I am getting the main ideas
> right.

Cheers Guy!

So pleased you found my approach of interest!

> "Aleatoricism" seems to reflect the creativity associated with
> dynamics at "the edge of chaos", or inherent to self-organization.  I
> would strongly agree with this as an essential fundamental that was not
> explicit in my formulation.  I would argue that aleatoricism and feedback
> are implicit in the notion of metabolism, but I like that you pull them
> out.

Actually, I go beyond the notion of "chaos", which is actually a
deterministic dynamics. I see the universe (somewhat like Wolfram) as a
world of discrete events. When cause and effect are virtually immediate,
one can make the continuum assumption (as Euler did [but *not* Newton])
and it works very well indeed.

As soon a cause and effect diverge, however, and the world appears more
discrete, a new, more indeterminate, dynamic takes over. (That's why we
had to invent the "exceptional" sciences of thermodynamics, relativity,
quantum theory.)
<https://www.ctr4process.org/whitehead2015/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PhilPrax.pdf>

The world of biology adheres more to the latter dynamic than to the
classical.

> I'm not sure what you are suggesting with the term "centripetality".
>  Is this meant to reference the functional and dynamical coherence of
> self-organizing systems?

Well, coherence is involved, but the term refers more directly to the
property of autocatalytic systems to actually concentrate resources. I'm
attaching a few pages from my book that treat the phenomenon. (start near
the bottom of p64.)

> Regards,
>
> Guy

So good to correspond with someone with similar interests.

The best,
Bob
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