Dear Howard,
In any extent, your beautiful questions are beyond my reach. I think
that the physical characterization of life cannot even provide a whim on
your demands; but something of the informational might provide some
limited inroads: prokaryots could not achieve any significant progress
in morphological or differentiation capabilities within their
"colonies". Conversely, eukaryotes developed multicellularity due to
their far higher information content (genome), their far improved
signaling resources, their endless energy supply in support of the
general combinatoric problem-solving tools (mitochondria), and the
incorporation of a new locus (cytoskeleton) capable of feeling the force
field and reacting to it. A chain of amazing inventions is behind any of
the existing branches of complex life... can do they admit a general
explanation, not just based on natural selection, but on the improved
evolvability that has been obtained by being able to explore any
molecular-recognition contraption (within partially collapsed solution
state-spaces, a la Wagner?). Otherwise we are lead to admit a deep
enigma, still uncharted, or to look for external "intelligence"
solutions outside the limits of current scientific paradigms.
What is your own opinion??
Best wishes--Pedro
El 09/02/2017 a las 22:44, howlbl...@aol.com escribió:
fascinating thinking, pedro.
it triggers this:
The stages of development are far more than real-world problem
solvers.They set artificial challenges, then achieve them.Making a
caterpillar that works is anenormously complex challenge.Making a
working butterfly is also immensely more complex than any simple
challenge mounted by the environment.Changing from caterpillar to
butterfly in one lifetime is unachievable beyond all belief.And these
grotesquely artificial goals can’t be accounted for by a simple goal
of survival.The goal, if anything, seems to be to accomplish the
ornate, the unnecessary, the flamboyant, and the impossible.How does a
drive toward impossible flamboyance get built intolife?How doesit get
built into the cosmos?
with warmth and oomph--howard
----------
Howard Bloom
Howardbloom.net
author of : The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the
Forces of History ("mesmerizing"-The Washington Post), Global Brain:
The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century
("reassuring and sobering"-The New Yorker), The Genius of the Beast: A
Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism ("Impressive, stimulating, and
tremendously enjoyable."James Fallows, National Correspondent, The
Atlantic), The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates ("Bloom's
argument will rock your world." Barbara Ehrenreich), How I
Accidentally Started the Sixties (“a monumental,epic, glorious
literary achievement.” Timothy Leary), and The Muhammad Code: How a
Desert Prophet Gave You ISIS, al Qaeda, and Boko Haram--or How
Muhammad Invented Jihad (“a terrifying book…the best book I’ve read on
Islam,” David Swindle, PJ Media).
Former Core Faculty Member, The Graduate Institute; Former Visiting
Scholar—Graduate Psychology Department, NewYork University
Founder: International PaleopsychologyProject; founder and chair,
Space Development Steering Committee; Founding Board Member: Epic of
Evolution Society; Founding Board Member, The Darwin Project; Board Of
Governors, National Space Society; Founder: The Big Bang Tango Media
Lab; member: New York Academy of Sciences, American Association for
the Advancement of Science, American Psychological Society, Academy of
Political Science, Human Behavior and Evolution Society, International
Society for Human Ethology, Scientific Advisory Board Member, Lifeboat
Foundation.
In a message dated 2/9/2017 3:22:55 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
pcmarijuan.i...@aragon.es writes:
Dear Marcus and Colleagues,
Thanks for your interest. The Chengdu's Conference represented for
me an occasion to return to my beginnings, in the 80's, when I
prepared a PhD Thesis: "Natural Intelligence: On the evolution of
biological information processing". It was mostly following a top
down approach. But in some of the discussions outdoors of the
conference (a suggestion for the next one in Shanghai: plenary
discussion sessions should also be organized) I realized that
biomolecular things have changed quite a lot. One could go
nowadays the other way around: from the molecular-informational
organization of cellular life, to intelligence of the cell's
behavior withing the environment. The life cycle es essential. It
provides the source of "meaning" (as I have often argued in
discussions in the list) but it is also the reference for
"intelligence". Communicating with the environment and
self-producing by means of the environmental affordances have to
be smoothly organized so that the stages of the life cycle may be
advanced, and that the "problems" arising from the internal or the
external may be adequately solved. It means signalling and
self-modifying in front of the open-ended environmental problems,
sensing and acting coherently... It strangely connects with the
notion of human "story" and the communication cycle in the
humanities. Relating intelligence to goal accomplishment or to an
architecture of goals as usually done in computational realms
implies that the real life course (or the surrogate) is reduced to
a very narrow segment. True intelligence evaporates.
These were some of my brute reflections that I have to keep musing
around (I saw interesting repercussions for cellular signaling
"narratives" too). Maybe this is also a good opportunity for other
parties of that conference to expostulate their own impressions
--very exciting presentations both from Chinese and Western
colleagues there.
Thanks again,
--Pedro
El 08/02/2017 a las 14:14, Marcus Abundis escribió:
> In next weeks some further discussion might be started, but at
the time being, the slot is empty (any ideas?)<
Hi Pedro,
For my part I would appreciate a chance to hear more about the
thoughts you have been developing (even if they are very rough)
as related to the talk you gave in China last summer.
Alternatively, further thoughts on Gordana's talk would be nice
to hear.
For both of these talks, you both shared your presentation stack
. . . but there was so much information in both of those talks,
it would be nice to have some of "unpacked."
Marcus
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-------------------------------------------------
Pedro C. Marijuán
Grupo de Bioinformación / Bioinformation Group
Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud
Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Aragón (CIBA)
Avda. San Juan Bosco, 13, planta 0
50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Tfno. +34 976 71 3526 (& 6818)
pcmarijuan.i...@aragon.es
http://sites.google.com/site/pedrocmarijuan/
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-------------------------------------------------
Pedro C. Marijuán
Grupo de Bioinformación / Bioinformation Group
Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud
Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Aragón (CIBA)
Avda. San Juan Bosco, 13, planta 0
50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Tfno. +34 976 71 3526 (& 6818)
pcmarijuan.i...@aragon.es
http://sites.google.com/site/pedrocmarijuan/
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