Metabiology

Metabiology

Author: Arturo Carsetti

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-11-07

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 3030327183

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In the context of life sciences, we are constantly confronted with information that possesses precise semantic values and appears essentially immersed in a specific evolutionary trend. In such a framework, Nature appears, in Monod’s words, as a tinkerer characterized by the presence of precise principles of self-organization. However, while Monod was obliged to incorporate his brilliant intuitions into the framework of first-order cybernetics and a theory of information with an exclusively syntactic character such as that defined by Shannon, research advances in recent decades have led not only to the definition of a second-order cybernetics but also to an exploration of the boundaries of semantic information. As H. Atlan states, on a biological level "the function self-organizes together with its meaning". Hence the need to refer to a conceptual theory of complexity and to a theory of self-organization characterized in an intentional sense. There is also a need to introduce, at the genetic level, a distinction between coder and ruler as well as the opportunity to define a real software space for natural evolution. The recourse to non-standard model theory, the opening to a new general semantics, and the innovative definition of the relationship between coder and ruler can be considered, today, among the most powerful theoretical tools at our disposal in order to correctly define the contours of that new conceptual revolution increasingly referred to as metabiology. This book focuses on identifying and investigating the role played by these particular theoretical tools in the development of this new scientific paradigm. Nature "speaks" by means of mathematical forms: we can observe these forms, but they are, at the same time, inside us as they populate our organs of cognition. In this context, the volume highlights how metabiology appears primarily to refer to the growth itself of our instruments of participatory knowledge of the world.


Kenneth Burke and the 21st Century

Kenneth Burke and the 21st Century

Author: Bernard L. Brock

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9780791440070

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Kenneth Burke was an influential thinker, literary critic, and rhetorician in the transition between the 20th and 21st centuries. This volume, edited by an influential Burkean scholar, addresses the question: Who was Burke and how can his work be helpful to those who must face new problems and challenges?


Kenneth Burke's Permanence and Change

Kenneth Burke's Permanence and Change

Author: Ann George

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2018-11-27

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1611179327

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A guide to and analysis of a seminal books key concepts and methodology Since its publication in 1935, Kenneth Burke's Permanence and Change, a text that can serve as an introduction to all his theories, has become a landmark of rhetorical theory. Using new archival sources and contextualizing Burke in the past and present, Ann George offers the first sustained exploration of this work and seeks to clarify the challenging book for both amateurs and scholars of rhetoric. This companion to Permanence and Change explains Burke's theories through analysis of key concepts and methodology, demonstrating how, for Burke, all language and therefore all culture is persuasive by nature. Positioning Burke's book as a pioneering volume of New Rhetoric, George presents it as an argument against systemic violence, positivism, and moral relativism. Permanence and Change has become the focus of much current rhetorical study, but George introduces Burke's previously unavailable outlines and notes, as well as four drafts of the volume, to investigate his work more deeply than ever before. Through further illumination of the book's development, publication, and reception, George reveals Burke as a public intellectual and critical educator, rather than the eccentric, aloof genius earlier scholars imagined him to be. George argues that Burke was not ahead of his time, but rather deeply engaged with societal issues of the era. She redefines Burke's mission as one of civic engagement, to convey the ethics and rhetorical practices necessary to build communities interested in democracy and human welfare—lessons that George argues are as needed today as they were in the 1930s.


Metabiology

Metabiology

Author: Arturo Carsetti

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9783030327194

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In the context of life sciences, we are constantly confronted with information that possesses precise semantic values and appears essentially immersed in a specific evolutionary trend. In such a framework, Nature appears, in Monods words, as a tinkerer characterized by the presence of precise principles of self-organization. However, while Monod was obliged to incorporate his brilliant intuitions into the framework of first-order cybernetics and a theory of information with an exclusively syntactic character such as that defined by Shannon, research advances in recent decades have led not only to the definition of a second-order cybernetics but also to an exploration of the boundaries of semantic information. As H. Atlan states, on a biological level "the function self-organizes together with its meaning". Hence the need to refer to a conceptual theory of complexity and to a theory of self-organization characterized in an intentional sense. There is also a need to introduce, at the genetic level, a distinction between coder and ruler as well as the opportunity to define a real software space for natural evolution. The recourse to non-standard model theory, the opening to a new general semantics, and the innovative definition of the relationship between coder and ruler can be considered, today, among the most powerful theoretical tools at our disposal in order to correctly define the contours of that new conceptual revolution increasingly referred to as metabiology. This book focuses on identifying and investigating the role played by these particular theoretical tools in the development of this new scientific paradigm. Nature "speaks" by means of mathematical forms: we can observe these forms, but they are, at the same time, inside us as they populate our organs of cognition. In this context, the volume highlights how metabiology appears primarily to refer to the growth itself of our instruments of participatory knowledge of the world.


The Map and the Territory

The Map and the Territory

Author: Shyam Wuppuluri

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-02-13

Total Pages: 638

ISBN-13: 3319724789

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This volume presents essays by pioneering thinkers including Tyler Burge, Gregory Chaitin, Daniel Dennett, Barry Mazur, Nicholas Humphrey, John Searle and Ian Stewart. Together they illuminate the Map/Territory Distinction that underlies at the foundation of the scientific method, thought and the very reality itself. It is imperative to distinguish Map from the Territory while analyzing any subject but we often mistake map for the territory. Meaning for the Reference. Computational tool for what it computes. Representations are handy and tempting that we often end up committing the category error of over-marrying the representation with what is represented, so much so that the distinction between the former and the latter is lost. This error that has its roots in the pedagogy often generates a plethora of paradoxes/confusions which hinder the proper understanding of the subject. What are wave functions? Fields? Forces? Numbers? Sets? Classes? Operators? Functions? Alphabets and Sentences? Are they a part of our map (theory/representation)? Or do they actually belong to the territory (Reality)? Researcher, like a cartographer, clothes (or creates?) the reality by stitching multitudes of maps that simultaneously co-exist. A simple apple, for example, can be analyzed from several viewpoints beginning with evolution and biology, all the way down its microscopic quantum mechanical components. Is there a reality (or a real apple) out there apart from these maps? How do these various maps interact/intermingle with each other to produce a coherent reality that we interact with? Or do they not? Does our brain uses its own internal maps to facilitate “physicist/mathematician” in us to construct the maps about the external territories in turn? If so, what is the nature of these internal maps? Are there meta-maps? Evolution definitely fences our perception and thereby our ability to construct maps, revealing to us only those aspects beneficial for our survival. But the question is, to what extent? Is there a way out of the metaphorical Platonic cave erected around us by the nature? While “Map is not the territory” as Alfred Korzybski remarked, join us in this journey to know more, while we inquire on the nature and the reality of the maps which try to map the reality out there. The book also includes a foreword by Sir Roger Penrose and an afterword by Dagfinn Follesdal.


Unravelling Complexity

Unravelling Complexity

Author: Francisco Antônio Doria

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 445

ISBN-13: 9811200076

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The revolutions that Gregory Chaitin brought within the fields of science are well known. From his discovery of algorithmic information complexity to his work on Gödel's theorem, he has contributed deeply and expansively to such diverse fields. This book attempts to bring together a collection of articles written by his colleagues, collaborators and friends to celebrate his work in a festschrift. It encompasses various aspects of the scientific work that Chaitin has accomplished over the years. Topics range from philosophy to biology, from foundations of mathematics to physics, from logic to computer science, and all other areas Chaitin has worked on. It also includes sketches of his personality with the help of biographical accounts in some unconventional articles that will provide a rare glimpse into the personal life and nature of Chaitin. Compared to the other books that exist along a similar vein, this book stands out primarily due to its highly interdisciplinary nature and its scope that will attract readers into Chaitin's world


Proving Darwin

Proving Darwin

Author: Gregory Chaitin

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2013-02-26

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 1400077982

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Groundbreaking mathematician Gregory Chaitin gives us the first book to posit that we can prove how Darwin’s theory of evolution works on a mathematical level. For years it has been received wisdom among most scientists that, just as Darwin claimed, all of the Earth’s life-forms evolved by blind chance. But does Darwin’s theory function on a purely mathematical level? Has there been enough time for evolution to produce the remarkable biological diversity we see around us? It’s a question no one has yet answered—in fact, no one has attempted to answer it until now. In this illuminating and provocative book, Gregory Chaitin elucidates the mathematical scheme he’s developed that can explain life itself, and examines the works of mathematical pioneers John von Neumann and Alan Turing through the lens of biology. Fascinating and thought-provoking, Proving Darwin makes clear how biology may have found its greatest ally in mathematics.


Back To Methuselah A Metabiological Pentateuch

Back To Methuselah A Metabiological Pentateuch

Author: Bernard Shaw

Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan

Published: 2023-10-01

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13:

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Embark on a mind-expanding journey through the ages with Bernard Shaw's visionary work, "Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch." In this groundbreaking exploration of human evolution and the quest for immortality, Shaw challenges readers to reconsider their understanding of time, life, and the nature of existence. Join Shaw as he takes you on a sweeping journey from the dawn of creation to the distant future, exploring the origins of life and the potential of humanity to transcend its biological limitations. Through a series of thought-provoking plays and essays, Shaw offers a radical vision of human evolution, suggesting that the key to our future lies in unlocking the secrets of our past. As you delve into "Back to Methuselah," you'll encounter a cast of unforgettable characters, from the enigmatic figure of Methuselah himself to the bold pioneers of the future. Through their struggles and triumphs, Shaw invites readers to ponder timeless questions about the nature of progress, the meaning of life, and the possibility of achieving immortality. Since its publication, "Back to Methuselah" has captivated readers with its bold ideas, witty dialogue, and profound insights into the human condition. Shaw's visionary work continues to inspire and challenge readers, inviting them to imagine a future where the boundaries of age and mortality are no longer limitations. Whether you're a fan of science fiction, philosophy, or visionary literature, "Back to Methuselah" is sure to leave a lasting impression. So don't miss your chance to embark on this extraordinary journey through time and space. Order your copy today and prepare to be transported to a world of infinite possibility and wonder.


Jonas Salk

Jonas Salk

Author: Charlotte Jacobs

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 0199334412

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The first full biography of Jonas Salk offers a complete picture of the enigmatic figure, from his early years working on an influenza vaccine--for which he never fully got credit--to his seminal creation of the Polio vaccine, up through his later work to find a cure for AIDS.