[Fis] An Unbeatable Tradition?

[Stuart Kauffman]

Thank you Pedro.  I agree and will respond in more detail soon. 

Stu

> On Jan 22, 2024, at 9:32 AM, Pedro C. Marijuán <pedroc.marijuan at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear All,
> 
> While watching the evolution of our discussions in this NY Lecture focused on the "Third Transition" I have the impression that physics becomes an inexorable attractor, the necessary end of any civilized discussion on information. Precisely, the initial arguments were about living organisms creating ever new ways of "getting to exist", adaptively constructing new-in-the-universe possibilities--with their exploration of the adjacent-possible going outside of the Newtonian paradigm... Fine, very fine.
> 
> My contention is that in the last decades we have heard many times that rejection of the Newtonian but seemingly we cannot advance in the development of truly independent views, post-Newtonian and non-physicalist anchored (about information). Not aspiring to any universality about the conceptions of this independent informational exploration of life--at least shouldn't it be attempted?? Once some basics could be cohered and decently developed, it might provide some interesting complementarity with the endless conundrums on its and bits by physicist and computerist colleagues. Michael Conrad (who in the 70s and 80s was already arguing about the unpicturability of enzyme function) put an interesting comment: "When we look at a biological system we are looking at the face of the underlying physics of the universe" (in BioSystems, 38, 1996, p.108). Quite enigmatic. So, an unexpected convergence might be found finally--but not mandating it at the very beginning.
> 
> As I briefly argued days ago, the adjacent possible may be considered in a variety of time-scales. The infamous "What is it to be done?" (in Spanish, the concise "Qué hacer?" ) may be repeated for cells, for organisms, for humans, for societies... Or in other more frivolous words, "Qué será, será... the future's not ours to see". No wonder that all these kinds of informational creatures are endlessly looking for "signals", to march towards truly adaptive adjacent possibles. Our new knowledge on Prokaryotic signaling systems, on how they are intertwined with the advancement of the life cycle, points exactly in that direction: exploring the external/internal environment so to self-orient towards adaptive outcomes. They were the First Ones. Our own nervous system continuously scans the external and the internal, and mixes up with an elaborate arrangement of emotional resources and socialization cues so to do more or less the same, achieving viable life courses, etc.etc. Our own societies are involved in dire prospects and strange policy navigation towards the adjacent--what? Possible? Impossible? Disastrous? Inevitable?
> 
> The lack of an informational cosmovision is patent. It was already evident for Ortega y Gasset in the 1930s: "The confusion on the terrible public conflicts of the present stems in good part from the incongruence between the perfection of our ideas on physical phenomena and the painful back-warded state of the 'moral sciences'--about that, both the politician and the physicist are at the very height of the barber" (in Revolt of the Masses, 1930s).
> 
> Before putting an end, I have found pretty interesting (maybe converging) recent comments on logics by Joseph, Eric, Plamen... Unfortunately the "reality" of the life cycle is always maintained perfectly invisible (or partially entered via some sanitized surrogates).
> 
> Thanking your attention,
> 
> Best --Pedro
> 
> 
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