rolandt
Member
Member # 646
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posted 09. December 2003 10:09
I posted this message in the members section and no one has entered that area since October so I'll post it here to see if I can get a response from some of you professional molecular biologists out there. I'm a software engineer and find this area of research (Complexity, and Design) very interesting. Any way, this post deals with what I have coined Lifeware from what molecular biologists have observed of celluar activity on the molecular level. My question is from what I've written below is am I "way out in right field" or in "foul territory" on this??
1. When examining living matter we note that it is special in that when viewed on the microscopic level there appears complexity of behavior not explained by the physical objects present. In other words the behavior of living matter on the microscopic level is so complex and ordered that the physical objects present do not explain why the matter is behaving in such a complex manner. In order to explain such complexity and order of behavior, a controlling mechanism must exist that controls the order and behavior. But it appears no such controlling mechanism can be found on this level. The behavior and order seem to occur without such a controller as if the matter itself was “Thinking”, thus Barham's term, “Thinking Matter”. A simple example to better understand this is to think of a type of robotic, self-constructing object of the toy Leggo within a pile of Leggo. The self-constructing object of Leggo examines it’s surroundings, chooses individual pieces of Leggo and produces new objects of Leggo, and even replicates itself. Now of course for this to actually happen there would have to be some type of controller, or computer that was controlling the whole process. Upon closer examination of the object we could find the controller or computer and examine it’s contents, which would reveal that it is not constructed of other pieces of Leggo. For we know that individual pieces of Leggo do not contain the necessary material to make a controller or computer. But what would happen if we found a Leggo object that did perform the complex construction behavior without a physical controller or computer. We would have to conclude that something other then the individual Leggo pieces is exerting some kind of control to cause the behavior. What that control is, would have to be discovered for we know it cannot come from the Leggo pieces themselves. Yet on the molecular level of biological systems this is what we see, macro-molecular objects of living matter performing complex construction processes without the aid of a physical controller or computer that can be examined. One could say that if the right combination and sequence of molecules occurs, then they inherently cause the complex behavior, but we know this is not so, because we can take those same sequences and combinations of molecules within dead matter and the complex behavior does not occur. Now we know that the molecules themselves cannot cause the behavior because like the Leggo there is nothing inherent within the molecule that can give it the controlling or computational characteristics (it’s just a molecule, no logic circuitry exists within it). Therefore the question arises: why do the molecules of a living system behave in such an ordered manner when there is no physical controller or computer controlling the behavior?
2. Another way of looking at this problem is like viewing a computer from strictly an electrical viewpoint. Electricity in itself or simply the electrical viewpoint cannot explain the computer’s behavior. Another viewpoint is needed. A viewpoint that combines electric logic circuitry along with software (a logic circuitry instruction set) can properly explain the complex behavior of the computer. Likewise when viewing living systems we need another viewpoint combined with the physical viewpoint to explain living matter.
3. A naturalistic scientist's viewpoint can say “Well we cannot completely explain the complexity of behavior of living matter in a purely physical manner at this point in time, but that is because more physicals things need to be discovered. Given time we will make the discoveries and have the explanation. But just because we have not discovered them does not mean they don’t exists”. Well the problem is that there is nothing left to discover down there. Everything that exists is there, nothing is hiding, it is all present! The only things down there at that level are molecules, and molecules are not controllers or computers. Now molecules can be constructed into computers or controllers but there is no evidence that that is what occurs on the molecular level within a living cell. Again both living and dead cells contain the same molecules but one is behaving in a complex constructive manner and the other is behaving in a less complex destructive manner. Why are the molecules of living matter acting in such an ordered and complex manner while the same molecules of non-living matter do not. As scientists peer more and more into this molecular environment I believe they are on the verge of a new discovery that deals with the controlling characteristics of living matter.
4. Like a computer which is controlled by software (a set of instructions) which has no mechanical framework, I believe this new discovery will deal with a non-physical framework (or a framework that goes beyond the space/time continuum) that contains an instruction set that enables living matter to exhibit its thinking characteristics or highly complex and ordered behavior. This new discovery is a non-physical framework or an extra-dimensional framework that can be called life-ware, which is an integral part of any piece of living matter.
5. Life-ware is a non-physical or extra-dimensional entity that controls the behavior of matter within a biological system, from the smallest virus to the human being. Now since life-ware is not physical or extra-dimensional, it’s existence cannot currently be proven directly via physical means. But that is not to say it’s existence cannot be proven. Like virtual particles with their closed loops, proof of life-ware existence can be indirectly determined by how it interacts with physical systems. It enables physical systems to live (exhibit the complexity of behavior that includes self-replication, etc. etc.). So when we view living matter on the microscopic level (looking at the interaction of it’s molecules) we can explain the ordered behavior as molecules being controlled by an instruction set of its life-ware. Note that life-ware is not an ethereal entity that is non-localized to the system it is controlling but is an actual part of or localized to the living system. The life-ware and the physical components it controls are an integral part of themselves. You cannot have one without the other. But life-ware can take matter from it’s surroundings and make it a part of itself and replicate itself, therefore make non-living matter live.
6. Again to reiterate, life-ware in itself cannot be physically examined but it can be probed by viewing its interaction with the physical system it is controlling. By probing these interactions we should be able to learn many new things in the Life-Sciences. I don't know why biologists don't see this and are not feverishly trying to discover life-ware and it’s effect on matter. Eventually biology should be able to determine the instruction sets of simple living matter and with this new knowledge gain new insights on how to communicate with life-ware. This should bring unprecedented discoveries in cure/prevention of diseases, healing physical damage to living systems, increases food production, advances in a healthier environment etc. etc. The opportunities seem limitless. But we must be careful, the potential for good seem limitless but also the potential for evil. Understanding how to communicate with Life-ware would enable one to seem to create miracles.
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