Re: [COMPLEX-M] 2nd Law and Ecosystems

["Judith Rosen" <***>]

The three quotes below are things that I believe I may be able to shed some light on, as far as my father's view is concerned:

> >     I do subscribe to a "unity of the sciences", BUT, not in its original,
> >reductionist form.  I claim that the above specification hierarchy:
> >{physics {chemistry {biology {sociology {psychology}}}}} would make a good
> >basis for unification.
I believe the way my father saw it was that Complexity, in his definition, was the overarching scientific basis for the material world. Physics, biology, chemistry, etc, all were subsumed into the larger scientific matrix that is Complexity. Physics has to do with the lower echelons of complexity, as does chemistry, etc. These things inform complexity, but cannot explain it or the effects of it. In fact, physics deals with simple systems, yet the atom is a complex system. Physics cannot explain the behavior of an atom, but biology can. Why? Because biology deals with phenomena that can only be understood via complexity. It was in his study of Biology that my father developed his theories and definitions of Complexity, and he was as surprised as anyone that Biology turns out to embody the aspects of something that is actually the general case in the universe. The unifying science is Complexity.

 

 

> >     SS: But -- there you go making a physics type of approach (as did Rosen)!
My father USED physics as a tool, as he did mathematics, systems theory, and a host of other disciplines. His focus was life.

 

> >     SS: How, exacty does Rosen's approach differ from that which a
> >physicist would take (say, to a tornado)?
A tornado isn't a useful comparison. I doubt he would consider a tornado a complex system, therefore, his approach would be exactly the same as a physicist's. However, his approach to understanding an organism would be radically different from a physicist's. He wrote extensively on just how his approach differs. If you would like me to paraphrase it, I will.

 

Judith