Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
A: In physics: order from molecular disorder
(effect of the law of large numbers)
B: In biology: order from molecular order
(effect of genetic information)
F
IGURE
5. The ontological difference between physics and biology (according to
Schrödinger). A
: In physics, order is a subjective approximation. The different
molecules are subject to heat motion. The order we see is due to the law of large
numbers which reduces the variability of phenomena owing to the huge number of
molecules involved and the conditions in which the phenomena occur.
B
: In biology,
on the other hand, order is objective. The molecules escape heat motion. They carry
information relating to the macroscopic living being (the genetic information).
The principle of order from order must be based on these laws, and
it must be due to them that the living being functions with
extreme accuracy. Schrödinger made use of Descartes' metaphor
for his own ends. He compared the mechanisms of the living being
with those of a clock (WIL pp. 81-85). In his view, genes would be
like physical matrices from which information would be propagated
into the cell by a series of mechanisms as accurate as the trans-
mission of movement inside a clock by cogwheels. It has not been
possible with subsequent development of molecular biology to elu-
cidate these physical laws specific to biology. However, the princi-
ple of order from order involving a molecular mechanism
eliminating chance has been maintained, and the idea of cogwheels
