Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
to understand the workings of the cell without taking into account the long history
of biological evolution (
diachronicity
).
This is because the synchronic properties of
the cell
(e.g., ligand-receptor interactions, cell cycle, chemotaxis, etc.)
are needed
for its evolution and the evolutionary process is needed for the emergence of such
synchronic properties endowed with genetic information.
The Closure Relation Between Boundary Conditions and the Dynamics of Physical
Systems.
It is clear that no physical laws can describe any observable propertieswithout
there
being specific boundary conditions. In other words, the equation of motion
describing a physical system, which embodies laws of physics, cannot be solved
without the initial and boundary conditions applicable to that system (Pattee 1995).
6.3.3 The Anthropic Principle
Cosmologists have found that the numerical values of the fundamental physical
constants such as
c
(speed of light),
G
(gravitational constant),
h
(Planck constant),
e
(electronic charge),
m
e
(electron mass), and
m
n
(neutron mass) must be precisely
what they are in order for our Universe to evolve to contain those elements (e.g.,
carbon, nitrogen, iron, etc.) that are essential for life to exist on this planet (Barrow
and Tipler 1986; Kane et al. 2000). Deviations by even a few percent from these
values have been found to lead to alternate model universes devoid of carbon atoms,
for example. Therefore, it is clear that there is a
closure relation
between the
existence of life (A) in this Universe and the numerical values of the key physical
constants (B) that characterize the structure of this Universe: that is, Without B,
no A; or A presupposes B. In this view, the anthropic principle is a species of the
principle of closure (Sect.
6.3.2
).
6.3.4 The Table Theory
It appears that we acquire our knowledge about an unfamiliar object only in terms
of what we already know, reminiscent of the biological principle that organisms
derive from preceding organisms (except when life first originated), and ligands
state this idea as follows:
Our knowledge about an unknown object can be increased only in terms of the properties of
an already familiar object.
(6.37)
Statement 6.37 may be related to Socrates' (ca. 470-399 B.C.)
doctrine of
recollection
,or
anamnesis
, according to which knowledge can only come from
recollection. A similar idea was advanced by the French phenomenologist Maurice
Merleau-Ponty (1907-1961) in his theory of “pre-reflective experience”: (Dillon
1997, pp. 1-2). An intriguing possibility to account for the phenomenon of
