An Autonomous Agent

exploring the noosphere

Category: math (Page 9 of 10)

Origins of Order – Stuart Kauffman

Origins of Order, by Stuart Kauffman, provides a new look at evolution through natural selection. Instead of holding that the main creator of order is genetic drift with Natural Selection, Kauffman explores the idea that order can spontaneously form under various conditions in the natural world. Kauffman also emphasizes the importance of co-evolution among organisms in creating complex evolutionary systems. All of these ideas are explored through the mathematical tool of fitness landscapes.

The book, although long and dense, provides deep insights into the nature of life and evolution. The concepts  presented involve mathematics, computer science, chemistry, and biology. I would recommend this book if the reader likes these topics and has enough time (or is fast reader). (ISBN-13: 978-0195079517)

The Emergent Fool

After searching for images of Adjacent Possible, I ran across a blog called The Emergent Fool.  The author has a post on the Adjacent Possible with an interesting picture:

The blog also contains many articles on economics and emergence. Topics I love. I will have to take some time to read through this blog.

Investigations – Stuart Kauffman

Investigations seems to be a further expansion of the ideas presented in Kauffman’s book Origins of Order (see other post). As a note, I found that both are very dense and hard to read. However, the concepts presented within are worth the effort. The book provides a novel approach at explaining the origins of life. I found the most fascinating concepts in the novel to be the Adjacent Possible and the idea of Autonomous Agents.

An Autonomous Agent is simply a system which reproduces itself and carries out a work cycle.

The idea of an Adjacent Possible shines light on the idea of entropy in the universe. Investigations contains an entire section talking about Maxwell’s Demon and the nonergodicity (see ergodic hypothesis) of the universe. Briefly, the Adjacent Possible is the set of all “next” states of the universe. To give an example, consider the early universe. Consisting almost entirely of Hydrogen and Helium, we would say that the universe was in a “Actual State” of Hydrogen and Helium. The Adjacent Possible of chemicals would be the empty set — that is, no chemical states can be “formed” from Hydrogen and Helium (gravity has yet to create stars).  Then, once stars began to form, the Adjacent Possible began to include more states; elements like Carbon and Oxygen are the “next” states in the interior of stars under the right temperature and pressures.  Fast forward billions of years and human organisms are creating “next” states in the chemical Adjacent Possible (assuming alien civilizations have not already created these states). For example, humans have created nylon, plastic, Teflon, and various other molecular states.  These states would have been considered elements of the Adjacent Possible in the early 20th century; now, they are elements of the “Actual State” of the universe.

Thus, the universe can be considered nonergodic. It has yet to explore, and most likely will not explore, a large portion of the possible states of the universe.

Kauffman also talks about economics. He explains that modern economic theories fail to predict and account for the persistent innovation of human “goods” into the Adjacent Possible of “goods.”

I would highly recommend Investigations. It really is a must read! (ISBN-13: 978-0195121056)

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors – Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan stands as a testament to their brilliance as synthesizers of facts into story. Sagan and Druyan piece together myriads of biological facts to recreate the narrative of natural creation accessible to the non-scientific reader. Starting from the birth of the solar system and ending with the rise of apes, the reader will be left in awe at the beauty of life. The only requirement before reading this book is a curiosity about the natural world and a desire for understanding. (ISBN-13: 978-0345384720)

Sadly, Sagan passed away before the duo could complete a sequel.

MIT OpenCourseWare – Physics – Walter Lewin

It’s rare to find a professor who teaches with the enthusiasm and fun of MIT Professor, Walter Lewin. Which is why I highly recommend the his video lectures on Physics. Also, I would suggest watching the physics lectures of Richard Feynman.

His video courses include:
Physics I – Classical Mechanics
Physics II – Electricity and Magnetism
Physics III – Vibration and Waves

 

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