Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Alternatively,
Biological evolution is the natural consequence of the existence of actively complexifying
self-reproducing systems (ACSRS) on this planet that obey the Second Law of Thermody-
namics and the Law of Requisite Variety. (14.14)
For convenience, we may refer to Statements 14.13 and 14.14 as the
Cell Theory
of Evolution (CTE).
If proven correct, these statements may qualify to be referred to
as the
Principle of Biological Evolution
(PBE). It should be pointed out that
Statements 14.13 and 14.14 may be unique among the currently available theories
of biological evolution in that it, for the first time, introduces not only
LRV
but also
the concepts of
active complexification (AC)
and the physical agent implementing
AC, that is, actively complexifying self-reproducing systems (ACSRS), as neces-
sary conditions for biological evolution, in addition to the
Second Law
, which has
often been claimed to be the sole driving force for biological evolution by some
biologists including Brooks and Wiley (1986).
14.3 The Principle of Maximum Complexity
The concepts of
active
and
passive complexities
were introduced in Sect.
14.2
in
analogy to
active
and
passive transports
in cell biology. The
complexity
of a system
can be defined simply as the number of bits required to describe the system. The
description of a system entails characterizing (1) the
boundary conditions
of the
system, and (2) the position and motions of the system components as functions of
time that are determined by (or obey) the laws of physics and chemistry. In most
cases, the boundary conditions of living systems are
dynamic
, which in general
requires more bits to describe and hence more complex than if they were
static
.
The dichotomy of
active
and
passive
complexities is related to two other
dichotomies (see Rows 1, 2, and 3 in Table
14.6
) - (1) the dichotomy of
dissipative
dichotomy of
open
and
isolated
thermodynamic systems.
Table 14.6 The dichotomy of the
local
and
global
perspectives in thermodynamics
Perspective
Local (
synchronic
)
Global (
diachronic
)
1.
Information
Active complexity
Passive complexity
2.
Energy
Dissipative structures (
dissipatons
)
Equilibrium structures (
equilibrons
)
3.
System
Open
Isolated
4.
Environmen
t
Obeys the law of maximum
entropy
Impermeable to energy and matter
5.
Laws
“The law of maximum
complexity” (LMC)
a
The law of maximum entropy (LME)
a
This law states that
The active complexity of living systems increases toward a maximum.
(14.15)
