Homeokinetics

Abstract: A physical basis for reductionism is put forth in the form of five propositions that bridge levels of organization in natural phenomena. The outlook is that complex systems and processes all have to be traced back to physical law, which applies the only general scientific constraint on reality, but that out of physical law a hierarchy of organization emerges. The basic extension of normal physics in this homeokinetic field form is to complex systems. In such systems the repetitive units of concern are internally complex and exhibit elaborate internal time-delayed processes, for example, memory.

Abstract: Complex systems are characterised by specific time-dependent interactions among their many constituents. As a consequence they often manifest rich, non-trivial and unexpected behaviour. Examples arise both in the physical and non-physical worlds. The study of complex systems forms a new interdisciplinary research area that cuts across physics, biology, ecology, economics, sociology, and the humanities. In this paper we review the essence of complex systems from a physicists' point of view, and try to clarify what makes them conceptually different from systems that are traditionally studied in physics. Our goal is to demonstrate how the dynamics of such systems may be conceptualised in quantitative and predictive terms by extending notions from statistical physics and how they can often be captured in a framework of co-evolving multiplex network structures. We mention three areas of complex-systems science that are currently studied extensively, the science of cities, dynamics of societies, and the representation of texts as evolutionary objects. We discuss why these areas form complex systems in the above sense. We argue that there exists plenty of new ground for physicists to explore and that methodical and conceptual progress is needed most.

Abstract: This essay addresses the puzzlement, the missing piece, sensed when attempts are made to build a bridge from the synchronic, informational genotype to the diachronic, dynamic phenotype—a regular mapping that seems to be extraphysical. There is no formal, dynamic foundation for the bridge. Albert Einstein, Max Delbruck, and Erwin Schrodinger all expressed acute awareness of limitations of contemporary physics when considering biology because physics addresses much simpler sysems. As a proposed remedy, a new physical heuristic, homeokinetics, developed by Arthur Iberall and Harry Soodak (and later recast for biology by me as homeodynamics) is introduced here as a foundation for comprehending energy flows and transformations in complex systems, including those in metabolic networks of living systems. Their individual dynamic stability is flexible and marginal—it must allow for adaptations and changes in physiological and behavioral states to occur in an orderly fashion as external circumstances change. At th...

Abstract: A short review of some recent developments in the philosophy of physics is presented. I focus on themes which illustrate relations and points of common interest between philosophy of physics and three of its `neighboring' elds: Physics, metaphysics and general philosophy of science. The main examples discussed in these three `border areas' are (i) decoherence and the interpretation of quantum mechanics; (ii) time in physics and metaphysics; and (iii)methodological issues surrounding the multiverse idea in modern cosmology.