Hi, I have made a mistake in Figure 2 below.
The three rings designated as P, B, and S are not Borromean as they stand because removing P or B ring would still leave two rings interlinked. But it is possible to interconnect these three rings in such a way that they become Borromean rings (or that they form a Brunnian link) so that removing any one of them will result in a complete separation of the rings. Despite the error made in Figure 2, the main point of my email remains that P (physics), B (biology) and S (semiotics) are so interconnected to achieve some function (which I assume to be communincation) that removing any one of them will result in the abolition of that function. With all the best. Sung > (I forgot to attach the PDF file.) > > ---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- > Subject: [biosemiotics:5948] Borromean rings in pyhysics, biology, and > semiotics > From: "Sungchul Ji" <[email protected]> > Date: Sat, May 31, 2014 3:42 pm > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > (For undistored table and figures, see the attached.) > > Hi, > > Benjamin Udell brought to our attention the following interesting article > on the Borromean rings: > > "Physicists Prove Surprising Rule of Threes," _Wired_, May 29, 2014, by > Natalie Wolchover (_Quanta Magazine_). > http://www.wired.com/2014/05/physicists-rule-of-threes-efimov-trimers/ > > Borromean rings are a set of three rings that are interlinked in such a > way that removing any one of them leads to dissolving all the links. The > above cited article describes the experimental demonstration of the > Borromean rings in atomic physics. > > I think Borromean rings are present in living cells and Peircean signs as > well: > > (1) The Borromean rings in cell biology. > > There are three types of forces operating inside the living cell (see > Table 1) that act as Borromean rings since removing any one of them will > inevitably lead to cell death. > _______________________________________________________________________ > > Table 1. The three types of the forces and their tokens postulated > to form the Borromean rings inside the living cell: i.e., > removing any one of these forces will lead to cell death. > ________________________________________________________________________ > > Forces acting inside the Cell > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > Chemical Mechanical Osmotic > ________________________________________________________________________ > > Examples ATP > ADP DNA supercoils ion gradients across > the cell membrane > _________________________________________________________________________ > > Mechanism electronic conformational free energy (i.e., E & S) > interactions interactions gradients > (Quantum (Newtonian (Termodynamics) > mechanics) mechanics) > _________________________________________________________________________ > > Alternative bond energy conformational osmotic energy > Names energy > (or conformons) > _________________________________________________________________________ > > > (2) The Borromean rings in semiotics: > > As previously maintained, the Peircean sign can be represented as a > mathematical category with three sets (Object, Sign, and Interpretant), > each acting as a Borromean ring due to the fact that their mappings > (denoted as f, g, and k in Figure 1) obey the composition condition, i.e., > f x g = k. That is, when any one of these mappings are removed, there is > no triadic interactions and no mathematical category. > > > > f g > Object ---------> Sign -------> Interpretant > | ^ > | | > |__________________________________| > k > > Figure 1. The Peircean sign as a mathematical category consisting of > three > Borromean rings called Object, Sign and Interpretant, the > interpretant ring weaving through the other two rings consecutively > following the rule that each intersection is either up or down and > different from the previous one (see Figure 2). > > > (3) Finally, it did not escape my attention that the three fields, > physics > (including chemistry), biology and semiotics may form Borromean rings at a > higher level of organization than the level (i.e., the cellular level) > discussed in Table 1, so that no higher-order life (including thinking) > would be possible without all three fields mutually interacting. > > _____ P_____ _____B______ > | | | | > | __ +| ______- |___ | > |_______|____| |___|________| > - | | + > |_______ S ________| > > > Figure 2. Semiotics (S) viewed as a Borromean ring in a system of > inter-linked rings in which physics (P)(including chemistry) and biology > (B) form its complementary Borromean rings. The symbols + and signify > that the semiotic ring is passing over and under the other rings, > respectively. > > > If the above arguments are right, it may be inferred that the three > concepts, Peircean signs, mathematical categories, and Borromean rings are > different names for the same object, perhaps Pierces irreducible > tirad(icity). > > With all the best. > > Sung > > __________________________________________________ > Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. > Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology > Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology > Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy > Rutgers University > Piscataway, N.J. 08855 > 732-445-4701 > > www.conformon.net > > > >
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