Cybernetic Formulation of the Definition of Life

Korzeniewski, Bernard

doi:10.1006/jtbi.2001.2262

Cited by 86 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, the importance of regulation is being currently discussed in various scientific domains such as synthetic biology, origins of life (Bich and Damiano 2012) and systems chemistry (de la Escosura et al 2015), and it has been suggested as a possible candidate among the defining properties of life (Korzeniewski 2001;Tsokolov 2010). On these lines, the chemical engineer and theoretical biologist Tibor Ganti (2003a), whose chemoton model has been particularly influential in these research areas, includes inherent stability and the capability for regulation in his list of "absolute criteria for life" (see also Griesemer and Szathmáry 2009).…”

Section: Common Views On Regulation: Problems and Examples To Justifymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological regulation: controlling the system from within

et al. 2015

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Biological regulation is what allows an organism to handle the effects of a perturbation, modulating its own constitutive dynamics in response to particular changes in internal and external conditions. With the central focus of analysis on the case of minimal living systems, we argue that regulation consists in a specific form of second-order control, exerted over the core (constitutive) regime of production and maintenance of the components that actually put together the organism. The main argument is that regulation requires a distinctive architecture of functional relationships, and specifically the action of a dedicated subsystem whose activity is dynamically decoupled from that of the constitutive regime. We distinguish between two major ways in which control mechanisms contribute to the maintenance of a biological organisation in response to internal and external perturbations: dynamic stability and regulation. Based on this distinction an explicit definition and a set of organisational requirements for regulation are provided, and thoroughly illustrated through the examples of bacterial chemotaxis and the lac-operon. The analysis enables us to mark out the differences between regulation and closely related concepts such as feedback, robustness and homeostasis.

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Section: Common Views On Regulation: Problems and Examples To Justifymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological regulation: controlling the system from within

et al. 2015

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“…Therefore, one might think that what really has to be done to solve this problem is to elaborate on the concept of the organism, resulting in the development of one that would be general enough to be used by scientists to study different taxa. Indeed, many such attempts have been recently put forward (see Korzeniewski 2001;Queller and Strasmann 2009;Clarke 2013).…”

Section: Making Sense Of the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Research on Microbiomes is Changing Biology: A Discussion on the Concept of the Organism

Stencel

Proszewska

2017

Found Sci

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Multicellular organisms contain numerous symbiotic microorganisms, collectively called microbiomes. Recently, microbiomic research has shown that these microorganisms are responsible for the proper functioning of many of the systems (digestive, immune, nervous, etc.) of multicellular organisms. This has inclined some scholars to argue that it is about time to reconceptualise the organism and to develop a concept that would place the greatest emphasis on the vital role of microorganisms in the life of plants and animals. We believe that, unfortunately, there is a problem with this suggestion, since there is no such thing as a universal concept of the organism which could constitute a basis for all biological sciences. Rather, the opposite is true: numerous alternative definitions exist. Therefore, comprehending how microbiomics is changing our understanding of organisms may be a very complex matter. In this paper we will demonstrate that this pluralism proves that claims about a change in our understanding of organisms can be treated as both true and untrue. Mainly, we assert that the existing concepts differ substantially, and that only some of them have to be reconsidered in order to incorporate the discoveries of microbiomics, while others are already flexible enough to do so. Taking into account the plurality of conceptualisations within different branches of modern biology, we will conduct our discussion using the developmental and the cooperation-conflict concepts of the organism. Then we will explain our results by referring to the recent philosophical debate on the nature of the concept of the organism within biology.

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“…The living individual is a very distinguished level in the hierarchy of the organization of life, as it is a self-dependent entity "taking care" of its survival and reproduction, the unit of selection and subject of biological evolution ("selfish genes" proposed by Dawkins, 1989, are not autonomous in performing this task and must cooperate with other genes). The biological (living) individual was defined in cybernetic terms as a network of inferior negative feedback (control homeostatic mechanisms) subordinated to (being at the service of) the superior positive feedback (reproduction, potential of expansion) (Korzeniewski, 2001). In short, a living individual was argued to be first of all a homeostatic replicator.…”

Section: Biological Cybernetic Individual Vs Psychical Cybernetic Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After all, it is not accidental that systems attributed with negative feedback are given the name in cybernetics: "tendential systems". In the case of life, the relation of self-applicability consists of the fact that the adequate "parameter" (which is the biological/cybernetic identity of a given individual) tends to maintain a constant value of itself from generation to generation (Korzeniewski, 2001(Korzeniewski, , 2005(Korzeniewski, , 2013a.…”

Section: Conceptual Network and Mind-body (Matter) Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although functioning of living organisms is "nothing but" a certain manner of carrying out physicochemical processes, it is impossible to explain the essence of life and evolution referring exclusively to physical-chemical-thermodynamic terminology. There is a need for the additional conceptual apparatus of cybernetics and information processing that does not follow in any necessary way from the physical description of the world (Korzeniewski, 2001(Korzeniewski, , 2005(Korzeniewski, , 2013a. Cybernetics is the only formal science able to probe to the very heart of the essence of life (the living individual).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Does Matter Matter? Should We Mind the Mind? —Can Philosophy Be Reduced to Neurophysiology?

Korzeniewski¹

2017

OJPP

Self Cite

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The neural network in the human brain underlies the conceptual network in the mind. Sensations and primary and secondary concepts in the conceptual network correspond to integrative structures and lower-and higher-level associative structures in the neural network, respectively. Both networks coevolve during biological evolution (phylogenesis) and individual development (ontogenesis). Subjective psyche and (self-) consciousness emerge when the cognitive center in the human brain becomes recurrently directed on itself (receives signals from itself, forms its own representation within itself). Matter (external world) corresponds to the region of the neural (conceptual) network that is not directed on itself, while the mind (self-consciousness) corresponds to the region of the neural (conceptual) network that is directed on itself. The very sharp separation/opposition within our psyche of the external word (physical reality) and internal world (content of our consciousness) results from the special kind of functional complexity of the human brain. We have only a very vague idea about what is "out there" in the "real" external world, as we have direct access only to our conceptual network. Matter does not matter and we should not mind the mind as much as we usually do. Generally, all of the main philosophical problems can essentially be reduced to human neurophysiology.

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Cybernetic Formulation of the Definition of Life

Cited by 86 publications

References 14 publications

Biological regulation: controlling the system from within

Biological regulation: controlling the system from within

How Research on Microbiomes is Changing Biology: A Discussion on the Concept of the Organism

Does Matter Matter? Should We Mind the Mind? —Can Philosophy Be Reduced to Neurophysiology?

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