[Fis] Acknowledgments

[Stuart Kauffman]

Hi Marcus and All. I hope to send the new Kauffman Roli paper today or tomorrow. Stu

> On Jan 16, 2024, at 1:50 AM, Marcus Abundis <55mrcs at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Stuart,
> 
> I look forward to seeing your and Andrea’s forthcoming paper.
> 
> I also hope to see closer functional analysis – your screwdriver example seems unchanged from 2005. I did not know enough to question it then, but now – the only thing that makes `a thing’ a `screwdriver’ is the special `machined bit’ at the tip, applied to a specific type of `fastenner'. Without that `bit’ it is just a stick with a handle: a universal tool with many uses. ONLY in using `that bit’ with a `screw' does a screwdriver truly become a screwdriver.
> 
> On your forthcoming title: `. . . Expected Phase Transition in the Evolving Universe?’ – I have wondered if `phase transitions’ is correct phrasing for logically traversing a simple-to-complex cosmos. For example, in traditional science (I believe?) `phase transitions’ refers only to transitions as `gas <>liquid<>solid’ for a single `element’. But does this entail true simple-to-complex shifts, where multiple elements come together for a new effect? (re my 9 Jan note, on proton, neutron, electron > atoms). We currently have many `cosmic logical gaps’ that make today’s science notoriously incomplete – so does `phase transitions’ really work here? This may be nit-picking, but it is a key difference in framing difficult issues. I know `emergence’ is considered a `dirty word’ in many (some?) scientific circles, so precise nomenclature may be important. That said, I know of no more-suitable term than `emergence’ (perhaps `functional levels’?). . . but I would be interested in hearing practical alternatives.
> 
> Lastly, on Phase Transitions, functional analysis, and Life, my 1 January post already suggests *one* way to approach the matter. But that seems more reductive than what you have in mind for your paper. I do not pretend to answer `questions of Life’, but I do know – if we take `modeling as a discipline’ – a more reductive (functional) vista can lead to new insights . . . where before, much was `mystery’. Alternatively, many people seem excessively enamored with mathematics, and make direct assaults on their `target’ without first performing suitable functional analysis. It seems odd that one attempt a mathematical model without first firmly grasping WHAT exactly they are modeling. That said, if you are curious about what *I* mean by `reductive functional analysis’ I can point you to my YouTube channel, particularly my 2017 AGI (artificial general intelligence) talk where I cover (phase?) transitions across lever types onto the advent of the (`complex’) wheel, or my paper on a Theory of Meaning with `X^n Signal Entropy’ in simple-to-complex roles. That said, those studies do not get one directly closer to detailing Life.
> 
> I will now step down from my functional analysis soap box and wish you and Andrea well with your forthcoming paper – and await its arrival. Thanks again for hosting this FIS session.
> 
> Marcus
> 
> On Mon, Jan 15, 2024 at 4:26 PM Stuart Kauffman <stukauffman at gmail.com <mailto:stukauffman at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> Thanks Krassimir. Yes Thinking Life. I will soon complete an article with Andrea Roli: Is the Emergence of Life an Expected Phase Transition in the Evolving Universe?” and will share it with the group. In it, quite to my surprise, I think we demonstrate that John von Neumann’s famous self reproducing machine is badly mistaken about how living cells reproduce. It is all very odd. If we are correct, the software hardware distinction does not apply to living cells. But the software hardware distinction surely applies to Universal Turning Machines. How can both be true? 
>> 
>> It seems a deep new puzzle. It may be related to Aristotle’s Four Causes and how they can be true, but not, I suspect, for reproducing cells. Very odd. 
>> 
>> Best to all,.
>> 
>> Stu
>> 

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