The story of life on Earth is often compared to a four billion year old torch relay. The flame that ignites at the beginning of the chain sends life downwards in the same form. But what if life were better understood by analogy with the eye as an integral organ of independent origin? What if life grows independently not once but many times?
In a new paper published in Journal of Molecular Evolution, Santa Fe Institute researchers Chris Kempes and David Krague argue that a new theoretical framework needs to be developed to understand life forms on a full scale.
In their three-story structure, Kembes and Krakw asked the researchers to first consider all the material spaces that could lead to life; Second, the barriers that control the potential universe of life; And third, the optimization process that encourages adaptation. In general, the structure regards life as adaptive information and captures the central processes of life using computational analogies.
What if life could be better understood through the analogy of the eye as an integral organ formed from an independent origin?
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When looking at life in a new context, there are many important possibilities. First, life appears over and over again – some real adaptations are actually “new ways of living, not just adaptations,” explains Kragueware – and that takes on a much broader form than conventional definitions.
In this environmental culture, computers and forests are all forms of life. Kemps explains: “Human culture lives in matters of spirit, as well as how multicellular organisms live in cell organisms.”
When researchers focus on the life characteristics of individual organisms, they often ignore the fact that organisms depend entirely on ecosystems as a fundamental substance, and ignore the ways in which living systems can survive. However, within the Kempes-Kragueware framework, another implication emerges: life becomes more sustainable than binary events. In this sense, the authors point to a recent attempt to categorize life into an exaggerated spectrum.
By looking at the principles of life in greater detail, Kempes and Krague hope to develop theories that are more useful for studying life. With new forms of life emerging from clear principles and new principles for finding a lifestyle, we will not only clarify what life is, but we will be better equipped to “create the tools to find life”. Recreate it in the lab and see how far the life we see alive.
Notes: Christopher b. Kemps and David C. “Different Paths to Many Lives” by Krakower, 12 July 2021, Journal of Molecular Evolution.
DOI: 10.1007 / s00239-021-10016-2
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