Re: energy vs. work

james:
in that exact moment I have to leave the University, so I only will be able
to answer tomorrow, but there is an important point to discuss: we need to
understand how open systems "metabolize" the input of energy and matter and
how this process is related to the discussion about signs and information. A
deeper discussion about entropy and work is good point to start.
best regards
norbert

> Norbert:
>
> After your last post, I now have the impression that our positions are
> closer together than I realized earlier. But let me ask you a question
> to probe the nature of the differences (if any) remaining.
>
> You wrote:
>
> "In a very basic sense: signs are differences of input and they need to
> be "interpreted" by the receiver to be information FOR the receiving
> system. If the organization pattern, the logic of its structural
> organization, enables the open system to react to the incoming signs (in
> other words: to actualize its own specific structural information), than
> we can say that the system processes the signs to information. In
> phys-chem. systems these processes can be very complex and should not be
> understood as a simple mechanical reaction."
>
> I certainly agree that nonequilibrium thermodynamic systems (hurricanes,
> Benard cells, B-Z reaction, etc.) have a kind of semi-goal-directed
> behavior that transcends simple mechanical interaction. Since I view
> "mechanism" as a linear relation between cause and effect, for me this
> is so more or less by definition. Wherever you have a nonlinear relation
> between cause and effect, i.e., a "disproportionate response," you have
> a transcendence of pure mechanism.
>
> But all the systems mentioned above are still describable purely in
> terms of energy minimization (given the constraints), are they not?
> Whereas living systems transcend not only mechanism, but also---and this
> is crucial---energy minimization.
>
> Another way of putting it is to say that living systems do work. By
> "work" I mean the directing of stored energy for specific ends in a
> goal-directed manner. Work in this sense requires a cognitive component
> to explain how it is possible. It is this cognitive component to all
> functional action (utilizing low-energy triggers correlated with
> specific recurring environmental conditions) that differentiates life
> from nonlife. And it is also this selfsame cognitive component that
> constitutes the framework within which information in the true semantic
> sense (the aforesaid low-energy triggers) first came into existence
> during the course of cosmic evolution.
>
> What say you?
>
> Best regards,
>
> James
>
Received on Tue May 21 23:00:04 2002