Cogprints

INFORMATION, ENERGY, AND EVOLUTION

Burgin, Dr. Mark and Simon, Irving (2001) INFORMATION, ENERGY, AND EVOLUTION. [Preprint]

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF
120Kb

Abstract

Within the current theory of evolution, the development in the direction of higher complexity is taken to be a necessary condition. This gives birth to a problem why this direction is prevalent for evolution. Philosophers and scientists tried to substantiate this condition and to explain it, yet the question still remains open. Our aim is to find specific regularities in nature that make complexity the chosen direction. Three main causes for this direction are deduced from initial principles, assuming that information and energy are the vital nutrients for evolution. Consequently, we base our explication and explanation of causes on the principles of information theory, Ashby’s principle of requisite variety/complexity, as well as we suggest and ground some additional principles of the system development. This makes possible to separate three principal stages for evolution of living organisms: biological, neurological, and epistemological.

Item Type:Preprint
Keywords:information, energy, evolution, variety, complexity, principle, development, infological system, infological element
Subjects:Biology > Evolution
ID Code:2359
Deposited By: Burgin, Dr. Mark
Deposited On:04 Aug 2002
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:54

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

References

1. Arnold, V.I. Mathematical Aspects of Classical Celestial Mechanics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin/New York, 1997

2. Ashby, R. W.R. An Introduction to Cybernetics, Barnes&Noble, London, 1964

3. Bronowski, J. The Ascent of Man, Little, Brown and Co., Boston/Toronto, 1973

4. Burgin, M.S. (1997) Fundamental Structures of Knowledge and Information, Academy for Information Sciences, Kiev (in Russian)

5. Durant, W. The Story of Philosophy, Simon&Schuster, 1951

6. Futuyama, D.J. Evolutionary Biology, Sinauer Assoc., 1986

7. Haken, H. Advanced Synergetics: Instability, Hierarchies of Self-organizing Systems and Devices, Springer-Verlag, Berlin/New York, 1983

8. Heylighen, F. What is Complexity, http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/COMPLEXI.html, 1996

9. Heylighen, F. The Growth of Complexity, in “The Evolution of Complexity,” Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1997

10. McShea, D. (1996) Meatzoan Complexity and Evolution: is there a trend?, Evolution, 50, 477-492

11. Simon, I. Centropy: The Evolution of Energy, Los Angeles, 1980; second edition, 1999

12. Spencer , H. Essays, Scientific, Political and Speculative, London, v. 1 Long-mans&Roberts, 1858; v. 2 and 3, Williams&Norgate, 1863

13. Spencer, H. Principles of Psychology, London, Longmans&Roberts, 1855

14. Wiener, N. Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, New York/London, MIT Press, 1961

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page