The Systems View of Life

5/24/2018 The Systems View of Life

1/5

THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF LIFE

Christian B. Agura

The last decade of the 20th century has seen a marked concern for global problemsbearing on our very survival: a warming globe, threats to the earths ozone layer, deserts

creeping on agricultural lands, pollution of sea and air, lack of water in some areas.

Biology and medicine have held on to the mechanistic, reductionist approach wherebythe functioning of the organism is reduced to cellular and molecular mechanisms; this

mechanic view is justified somewhat because living organisms do act in part like

machines.

Reductionism and holism, analysis and synthesis, are complementary approaches thatused in proper balance, help us obtain a deeper knowledge of life.

Machines function according to linear cause and effect; when they break down, usually asingle cause can be identified. In contrast, the functioning of an organism is guided by

cyclical patterns of information flow known as feedback loops.

A systems view looks at the world in terms of relationships and integration. Systems are integrated wholes whose properties cannot be reduced to those of similar

units.

Every living organism is an integrated whole, and thus it is a living system. All these materials systems (cells, organs, social system, etc.) are wholes whose specific

structure arise from interactions and interdependence of their parts.

Living organisms are open systems which means that they have to maintain a continuousexchange of energy and matter with their environment to stay alive. (Metabolism)

The stability of self-organizing systems is completely dynamic and must not be confusedwith equilibrium. It consist of maintaining the same overall structure in spite of ongoing

changes and replacements of its components. A system is in a state of continual fluctuation even when there is no disturbance.

(Homeostasis)

Examples of adaptation: Stress Adaptation


2/5

Somatic adaptation Evolution

The ability of the organism to adapt to environmental changes through genetic mutationhas been studied extensively along with reproduction and heredity.

The creative development of new structures and functions without any environmentalpressures, is a manifestation of the potential for self-transcendence that is inherent in all

living things.

Close coordination of activities exists not only among individual of the same species butalso among different species and again the resulting living systems have characteristics of

simple organisms.

Symbiotic relationships are mutually advantageous to the associated partners. Theyinvolve plants, animals, and microorganisms in almost every imaginable combination.

In brief, we do not have solitary beings, every creature is, in some sense connected to andindependent on the rest.

Another principle of living system is their tendency to form multi-leveled structure. At each of complexity, we encounter systems that are integrated, self-organizing wholes

consisting of smaller parts and at the same time acting like parts of larger wholes.

Most living systems exhibit multi-leveled patterns of organization characterize by manyintricate and nonlinear pathways along which there are signals of information and

transaction between all levels, ascending as well as descending.

Stratified systems renew themselves at all levels and maintain cycles of birth or death forall organisms.

Detailed studies of the ways in which the biosphere seems to regulate the chemicalcomposition of the air, the temperature on the surface of the earth, and many other

aspects of the planetary environment have led scientists (James Lovelock & Lynn

Margulis) to suggest that these phenomena can be understood only if the planet as awhole is regarded as a single living organism. (Gaia hypothesis)

Awareness of our earth as alive played an important role in mans cultural past and it wasrevived when astronauts were first able to look at the planet from outer space.

What astronauts and many men and women on earth before them realized is that the earthis not only teeming with life but seems to be a living being in its own right.


3/5

Similar patterns of self-regulations can be observed for other environmental propertiessuch as the chemical composition of the atmosphere, the salt content of the ocean and the

distribution of trace elements in plants and animals .

The earth then is a living organism- it functions like a living organism, it seems to be anorganism- GAIA.


4/5

CURRENT WORLD VIEWS

Christine Lee Bayna

Current experiences show we cannot divide the world into independently existing units orbuilding .As we penetrate deeply into matter we see not isolated building blocks but

rather nature shows us a complicated web of relationship between the various parts of a

unified whole.

In quantum theory the observed objects can only be understood in terms of processes ofobservation and measurement.

Relativity theory has brought about a drastic change in our concepts of space and time.It has shown as the space is not three dimensional and that time is not a separate entity.

Both are intrinsically connected and form a four dimensional continuum called space and

time.

In modern physics mass is no longer associated with material substance and henceparticles are not seen as consisting of any basic stuff but rather as bundles of energy.

Subatomic particles are dynamic patterns which have a space aspect and a time aspect,

their space aspect makes them appear as objects with a certain mass their time aspect as

processes involving the equivalent energy.

The notion of substances that make up matter is quite useful at the microscopic level butit does not make sense at the atomic level. Atoms are made up of particles and the

particles are not made up of any kind of material substance

One concept physicists have learned in this century has been that all concepts andtheories we use to describe nature is limited. Whenever we expand the sphere of our

experiences we have to modify or even abandon some of these concepts. To transcend

classical models, scientists will have to go beyond the mechanistic and reductionist

approach, and they will have to develop holistic and ecological views. The fundamental, cultural significance of such a development would be the recognition

that all rational approaches to reality are limited. Broad acceptance of this fact will be a

necessary first step toward a balanced culture. In such a culture, science will be only one

way whereby individuals pursue their understanding of the cosmos. F. Capra suggests


5/5

such understanding would be complemented by the intuitive ways of others such us

poets, psychics, and other equally valid approaches.

The Systems View of Life

Documents

Transcript of The Systems View of Life