Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
From: ohgs@chatham.demon.co.uk (Oliver Sparrow)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!udel!gatech!swrinde!pipex!peernews.demon.co.uk!chatham.demon.co.uk!ohgs
Subject: Complexity
Organization: Royal Institute of International Affairs
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Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 17:42:22 +0000
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Last week's Nature has an interesting article by Maynard-Smith on how
complexity is preset to increase in evolving organisms. One dilemma
which had not occurred to me is why agglomerations of cells - you, me
or the potted plant - are prepared to allow one cell to reproduce
on their behalf. Plants can bud, drop bits of themselves off: how is
the communitaire discipline maintained. They answer by reference to the
ideas underpinning co-operation in sociobiology: that by supporting
a team in which its genes are well represented, an organism is likely to
assure the transmission of those genes.

The authors point to seven (I think) levels of complexity which have 
characterised biological information phase changes. They show how, for 
example, three autocatalytic systems co-existing in an ecosystem (or puddle)
have different imperatives once bounded by a membrane. The system becomes 
something which it was not before: new properties, new forms of information
processing are exhibited. A good antidote to those who believe that everything
can be expressed in code, irrespective of the interpreter of that code.
Sometimes, the only interpretive engine is the system in which theo code is 
itself a player. Thus, too, elements of the mind.

_________________________________________________

  Oliver Sparrow
  ohgs@chatham.demon.co.uk
