[Fis] Autopoiesis, Autocatalysis and the Brain

[Alex Hankey]

Calling it a mess, is a sign of lack of scientific understanding.
Clearly, something that can have optimal regulation, based on
very high values of Negentropy, could not possibly be a 'mess'.
In my approach, the well-known property of Self-Organised
Criticality explains why the 'mess' is not a mess.
Alex


On Mon, 22 Dec 2025 at 21:39, Paul Suni <paul.p.suni at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear FIS Colleagues,
>
> According to AP, the nervous system is operationally closed. Empirically,
> it produces an electromagnetic signal environment that is a complete mess -
> objectively. The RMS noise around any given neuron at any given time can be
> as high as 30%. Yet, this incoprehensible signaling mess produces Bach
> Preludes and Fugues, Michelangelo sculptures, Shakespeare sonnets, general
> relativity, quantum mechanics and Maturana and Varela’s “ Tree of
> Knowledge: the Biological Roots of Understanding”
>
> Actually, the electromagnetic and biochemical signal environment of the
> whole organism looks like a mess. The classical approach to this mess
> sweeps the noise conveniently under the many rugs of academic
> disciplinarities by designating it as random. I wish to point out that
> autocatalytic networks, which are ostensibly the basis of autopoiesis,
> produce ordered (but random-looking) time series, which exhibit
> mathematically inherently metastable behavior.
>
> Network metastability has become a crucial mathematical tool in
> understanding the brain and the mind. The neural network of the organism is
> obviously operationally closed, but is it autocatalytic? It seems that,
> from the mathematcal stand-point,  just like autopoiesis produces order out
> of temporal and spatial noise, so does the brain produce order out of
> non-random noise of metastable origin.
>
> Recently, an ecology-derived mathematical concept of winnerless
> competition (Rabinovitch et al), which may be familiar to you from the
> rock-paper-scissors game, has been used to demonstrate mathematically how
> the brain may produce order out of messy network relations.
>
> Actually, ecology itself is an exploration of networks that are
> mathematically autocatalytic.This brings me to Gregory Bateson, a
> historically influential figure in the world of information science. He
> introduced the idea of “ The Ecology of Mind.” I believe that there is a
> lot to be learned from studying organism and mind from the mathematical
> autocatalytic stand-point. Autopoiesis serves as a rich abstraction for
> both organism and mind. Autocatalysis gives us some of the mathematics.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Alex Hankey M.A. (Cantab.) PhD (M.I.T.) DSc. (Hon Causa) Professor Emeritus
of Biology,
MIT World Peace University,
124 Paud Road, Pune, MA 411038
Mobile (Intn'l): +44 7710 534195
Mobile (India) +91 900 800 8789
WhatsApp: as for Mobile, India
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