ADVANCES IN LIVING SYSTEMS SCIENCEWashington

Academy of SciencesJames R. Simms

jrsimms@ juno.com

MAJOR ADVANCES

• Universal phenomena of life identified• Relations among universal phenomenon

discovered• Measurements identified• Units of measure for universal phenomenon

developed• Criteria met for a natural science of life

equivalent to the extant natural sciences

UNIVERSAL PHENOMENA OF LIFE

• Living structure (cells, organs, organisms)• Free energy• Genetic and biochemical information• Genetic and biochemical knowledge• Genetic behavior (synthesis of protein)• Biochemical behaviors (biochemical reactions)

UNIVERSAL PHENOMENA OF ANIMALS

• In addition to the universal phenomena of life, animals have contractile structures

• These structure provide a capability for contraction behaviors

RELATIONS AMONG THE FUNDAMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF LIFE

Phenomena

(p)

Knowledge

(n)

Information

(i)

Capacity todirect

energy (k)

Available energy

(ea)

Behavior

(b)

STRUCTURES ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE

Matter

Phenomena:

Matter and Energy

Sensors of Phenomena

(sp)

Information Generator

(si)

Effectors

(k)

Behavior

(b)i

Energy

LIVING SYSTEMS• James Grier Miller took the first step in the

development of a living systems science (Living Systems, 1978)

• Identified the subjects of the science• Described the characteristics of the subjects• Classified the subjects: cell, organ, organism,

group, organization, society and supranational levels

• Miller also identified the relations among the subjects and characteristics

LIVING SYSTEMS SCIENCE (CONT.)

• James G. and Jessie Miller wrote the Foreword to Principles of Quantitative Living Systems Science (1999)

• “In 1978 when the book Living Systems was published, it contained the prediction that the sciences that were concerned with biological and social sciences would, in the future, be stated as rigorously as the “hard sciences” that study such nonliving phenomenon as temperature, distance, and the interaction of chemical elements. Principles of Quantitative Living Systems Science, the first of a planned series of three books, begins an attempt to fulfill that prediction.”

LIVING SYSTEMS SCIENCEMiller’s Foreword (cont.)

• “It is our opinion that this book represents an important step in the development of a quantitative living systems science.”

• “As Simms shows, the concepts of available energy and the capacity to direct energy, as well as the causative relationship between information and behavior, are useful in the analysis of behavior.”

LIVING SYSTEMS SCIENCEMiller’s Foreword (cont.)

• “The systems with which this first book of the series is concerned are mainly at the level of the cell and the animal organ and organism.”

• “It will be interesting to see how the science is applied in later volumes to the complex behaviors of human being, and higher level systems.”

INFORMATION

• The universal phenomena of genetic, biochemical and neural information are treated in Principles of Quantitative Living Systems Science (Simms 1999)

• However, these phenomena were not treated with the scientific rigor necessary for establishing precise units of measure for these phenomena that is equivalent to those of the natural sciences

INFORMATION (cont.)

• The hypothesis of my research paper “Making the Soft Sciences Hard: The Newton Model” (2011) is that the methodologies used to develop the extant natural sciences can be used as a model for developing natural (hard) life and social sciences

EMERGENCE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

GENETIC INFORMATION

• Development of an objective measure of genetic information is based on the fundamental phenomenon that living systems synthesize protein

• This phenomenon is the essence of reproductive behaviors

• The synthesis of protein is an observable behavior

GENETIC INFORMATION(cont.)

• Genetic information causes the synthesis of specific protein

• One unit of genetic information causes a reference structure to use one unit of energy in the synthesis of one unit of protein

• The information unit is named the genin (contraction of genetic and information)

BIOCHEMICAL INFORMATION• Development of an objective measure of biochemical

information is based on the fundamental phenomenon that living systems exhibit biochemical behaviors

• This phenomenon is the essence of life• Biochemical reaction behaviors occur in all living cells• Biochemical information is typically in the form of

enzymes• One unit of biochemical information causes a

reference structure to use one unit of energy in a biochemical reaction

• The biochemical information unit is named the biocin

NEURAL INFORMATION

• Development of an objective measure of neural information is based on the fundamental phenomenon that a large class of living systems exhibit contractile behaviors

• Contractile behaviors are the essence of animals

• Neural information is typically in the form of action potentials

NEURAL INFORMATION (cont.)

• One unit of neural information causes a reference motor unit to convert one unit of free energy to one unit of mechanical energy (muscle contraction behavior)

• The information unit is named the neurin (contraction of neuron and information)

INFORMATION PERISHABILITY

• Genetic information perishes after it causes protein synthesis

• Biochemical information perishes after it causes a biochemical reaction

• Neural information perishes after it causes a contraction behavior

• Information perishability is a universal phenomenon at the cell, organ and organization levels

INFORMATION GENERATION

• Information generation is a universal phenomenon at the cell, organ and organism levels

• Cells, organs and organisms have structures that provide a capability to sense phenomena and generate appropriate information

KNOWLEDGE• The ability to generate appropriate information is

treated in my research paper “Knowledge: A Measurable Universal Phenomenon of Life”

• Knowledge is:1. The ability to sense phenomena and generate

information2. A universal phenomenon of life3. Not directly observable4. Observable and measurable through its relation with

information, energy and behavior • Knowledge can be measured

PRINCIPLES OF LIVING SYSTEMS SCIENCE FOR GROUPS AND SOCIETY

CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS

• Miller’s living systems classification levels are adequate for cells, organs and organisms

• Classification of higher levels require a different approach for the development of principles of quantitative living systems science for groups and society

• Classification based on number of species and complexity of behaviors works better

SEXUAL REPRODUCTION• Sexual reproduction is the first group behavior

and is the largest group• A relatively few of the 10 to 50 million species

exhibit group behaviors• The universal group phenomenon of sexual

reproduction is the fusion of female and male gamete chromosomes to synthesize the genetic material of the zygote (offspring)

• The synthesis of female and male gametes and the joining of these gametes are prerequisites to chromosome fusion behaviors

FERTIZATION: UNIVERSAL PHENOMENON OF LIVING SYSTEMS

GROUPS

SYNTHESIS OF FEMALE GAMETES

SYNTHESIS OF MALE GAMETES

COLLOCATION OF MALE AND FEMALE

GAMETES

FUSION OF CHROMOSOMES

SYNTHESIS OF ZYGOTE

RELATIONS AMONG THE FUNDAMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF

GROUPS

Phenomena

(p)

Knowledge

(n)

Information

(i)

Capacity todirect

energy (k)

Available energy (ea)

Behavior

(b)

STRUCTURES ESSENTIAL FOR GROUPS

Matter

Phenomena:

Matter and Energy

Sensors of Phenomena

(sp)

Information Generator

(si)

Effectors

(k)

Behavior

(b)i

Energy

RELATIONS AMONG THE FUNDAMENTAL PHENOMENA OF

FERTILIZATION• Phenomena (p): collocation of female and male

gametes• Knowledge (n) : sensing of female and male

gametes collocation and generation of genetic (ig) and biochemical (ib) information

• Capacity of cell structure to direct energy (k)• Available energy (ea) conversion of adenosine

triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP)

• Behavior (b): synthesis of zygote

RELATIONS AMONG THE FUNDAMENTAL PHENOMENA OF

FERTILIZATION (cont.)

b = f(p,n,i,k,ea)

UNITS OF MEASURE FOR GROUPS

• The function equation above can be changed to a precise equation by selecting basic units of measure for each parameter

• One unit of energy is the lae (life available energy) which results when adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is converted to adenosine diphosphate (ADP): a universal phenomenon of life

UNITS OF MEASURE FOR GROUPS (cont.)

• One unit of genetic information is a single codon of messenger RNA (mRNA)

• One unit of biochemical information is a single enzyme

• One unit of genetic knowledge is the ability to read one codon of DNA (phenomena) and generate a single codon of messenger RNA

• One unit of biochemical knowledge is the ability to sense chemical phenomena and generate an enzyme

UNITS OF MEASURE FOR GROUPS (cont.)

• Group sexual reproduction structures (typically a female egg) have a capacity to direct energy and synthesize a zygote

• The measure of capacity to direct energy is: a structure has an ability to direct one unit of energy in the synthesis of one unit of behavior for each unit of information

FUNDAMENTAL EQUATION OF GROUP BEHAVIOR

b = pnikea behavior = phenomenon x knowledge x information x capacity to direct energy x available energy

COLLOCATION OF MALE AND FEMALE GAMETES

• The sexual reproduction behavior prior to fertilization is a male gamete interacting with a female gamete

• Typically the male gamete moves to the female gamete

• The following figure shows the human egg-sperm collocation behaviors

EGG-SPERM COLLOCATION

COLLOCATION OF MALE AND FEMALE GAMETES (cont.)

• Movement of male sperm to a female egg from its synthesis site is typically caused by pheromones

• Pheromones are biochemical information (chemical substances which, when released into an animal’s surroundings, influence the behavior or development of other individuals of the same species)

PARENT AND OFFSPRING

• The second group level is a parent and its offspring

• The behavior is a parent caring for its offspring• These behaviors range from a female

synthesizing nourishment in her egg to mammals that provide for their young until adulthood

MAMMALIAN NURSING

PARENTS AND OFFSPRING

• A fewer number of species exhibit the more complex behaviors of both the male and female providing for offspring

• Some bird and mammals species exhibit these behaviors

NUCLEAR FAMILY

• The nuclear family consist of parents and offspring from a number of reproduction cycles

• The group behaviors of nuclear families are more complex due to the increased number of possible interactions

EXTENDED FAMILY

• Some species form groups that include related members and other unrelated adopted members

TRIBES

• Consist of individuals with many similar characteristics, such as antelope, buffalo and humans

HUMANS• Humans that existed for the first 99.8 percent of

human existence exhibited behaviors similar to other species

• Significant change occurred when the human brain increased in size resulting in an understanding of mortality and cause-and-effect phenomena

• Humans that have existed for the last 0.2 percent of human existence are also differentiated from previous humans by their social and technical innovations

EVOLUTION OF BRAIN SIZE IN HUMANS

CONSEQUENCES OF LARGE BRAINS

• The conscious understanding of mortality i.e. the knowledge that they are going to die

• The conscious understanding of cause and effect i.e. the knowledge that there are causes for observable behaviors and phenomena

BELIEF SYSTEMS

• The conscious understanding of mortality lead to early belief systems

• These belief systems include methods for achieving immortality such as burial of the dead with things for the next life

• Religions were constructed to address immortality

• Belief systems established in groups

CAUSE AND EFFECT• Cause and effect phenomena were initially

considered to be theological (Comte’s first stage) and explained by various Gods.

• Some societies still hold these beliefs.• These phenomena were later treated as

metaphysical (Comte’s metaphysical stage)• Advances have been made in making the group

and social sciences a positive science• Without identification and measure of universal

phenomena, there cannot be a “natural science” of groups and societies

NATURAL SCIENCE OF GROUPS AND SOCIETIES

• Identification and measurement of the universal phenomena of knowledge and information provides the basis for development of a natural science of groups and societies

NATURAL SCIENCE OF GROUPS AND SOCIETIES—RECENT HUMANS

• Recent humans emerged about 13,000 years ago (Diamond, 1990)

• They are identified by their social and technical innovations

• They were based on kinship, belief, resources and environmental phenomena

• They were based on very limited knowledge, group structures and available energy

• The behaviors of recent humans can be analyzed, described and explained in terms of these phenomena

CURRENT SOCIETIES

• Existing societies cover the range from tribal up to and including Miller’s group, organization, society and supranational levels

• The principles of quantitative living systems science of groups and societies apply to the complex behaviors of human beings, groups and higher-level systems

• These principles provide the basis for the development of living social systems science equivalent to the extant natural sciences

MEASUREMENT UNIT SCALING

• Units of measure for both nonliving and living things are small and are scaled up for better use

• The centimeter, gram, second (cgs) units are small and are scaled up for usage even for planetary systems

• The knowledge, information and energy units for living systems can be scaled up to humans and their groups

HUMANS

• The principles for living systems can be used for the behaviors of humans

• However, great effort is required to develop applications to humans

• The principles for living things are stated so they can be tested and verified just like those of the current natural sciences