Cargando…

A third transition in science?

Since Newton, classical and quantum physics depend upon the ‘Newtonian paradigm’. The relevant variables of the system are identified. For example, we identify the position and momentum of classical particles. Laws of motion in differential form connecting the variables are formulated. An example is...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kauffman, Stuart A., Roli, Andrea
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10102722/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37065266
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2022.0063
_version_ 1785025748101234688
author Kauffman, Stuart A.
Roli, Andrea
author_facet Kauffman, Stuart A.
Roli, Andrea
author_sort Kauffman, Stuart A.
collection PubMed
description Since Newton, classical and quantum physics depend upon the ‘Newtonian paradigm’. The relevant variables of the system are identified. For example, we identify the position and momentum of classical particles. Laws of motion in differential form connecting the variables are formulated. An example is Newton’s three laws of motion. The boundary conditions creating the phase space of all possible values of the variables are defined. Then, given any initial condition, the differential equations of motion are integrated to yield an entailed trajectory in the prestated phase space. It is fundamental to the Newtonian paradigm that the set of possibilities that constitute the phase space is always definable and fixed ahead of time. This fails for the diachronic evolution of ever-new adaptations in any biosphere. Living cells achieve constraint closure and construct themselves. Thus, living cells, evolving via heritable variation and natural selection, adaptively construct new-in-the-universe possibilities. We can neither define nor deduce the evolving phase space: we can use no mathematics based on set theory to do so. We cannot write or solve differential equations for the diachronic evolution of ever-new adaptations in a biosphere. Evolving biospheres are outside the Newtonian paradigm. There can be no theory of everything that entails all that comes to exist. We face a third major transition in science beyond the Pythagorean dream that ‘all is number’ echoed by Newtonian physics. However, we begin to understand the emergent creativity of an evolving biosphere: emergence is not engineering.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10102722
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher The Royal Society
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-101027222023-04-15 A third transition in science? Kauffman, Stuart A. Roli, Andrea Interface Focus Articles Since Newton, classical and quantum physics depend upon the ‘Newtonian paradigm’. The relevant variables of the system are identified. For example, we identify the position and momentum of classical particles. Laws of motion in differential form connecting the variables are formulated. An example is Newton’s three laws of motion. The boundary conditions creating the phase space of all possible values of the variables are defined. Then, given any initial condition, the differential equations of motion are integrated to yield an entailed trajectory in the prestated phase space. It is fundamental to the Newtonian paradigm that the set of possibilities that constitute the phase space is always definable and fixed ahead of time. This fails for the diachronic evolution of ever-new adaptations in any biosphere. Living cells achieve constraint closure and construct themselves. Thus, living cells, evolving via heritable variation and natural selection, adaptively construct new-in-the-universe possibilities. We can neither define nor deduce the evolving phase space: we can use no mathematics based on set theory to do so. We cannot write or solve differential equations for the diachronic evolution of ever-new adaptations in a biosphere. Evolving biospheres are outside the Newtonian paradigm. There can be no theory of everything that entails all that comes to exist. We face a third major transition in science beyond the Pythagorean dream that ‘all is number’ echoed by Newtonian physics. However, we begin to understand the emergent creativity of an evolving biosphere: emergence is not engineering. The Royal Society 2023-04-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10102722/ /pubmed/37065266 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2022.0063 Text en © 2023 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Articles
Kauffman, Stuart A.
Roli, Andrea
A third transition in science?
title A third transition in science?
title_full A third transition in science?
title_fullStr A third transition in science?
title_full_unstemmed A third transition in science?
title_short A third transition in science?
title_sort third transition in science?
topic Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10102722/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37065266
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2022.0063
work_keys_str_mv AT kauffmanstuarta athirdtransitioninscience
AT roliandrea athirdtransitioninscience
AT kauffmanstuarta thirdtransitioninscience
AT roliandrea thirdtransitioninscience