THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE II


principles of evolution





A Study in Thought

sa075



by





Marius Heuff

Chapter 1

Content

A brief summary of our concepts about the Universe.
"Shifting gears", by using summarising concepts.
The "flow of events", and the concept of a "possibility to exist".
There are three aspects to every event; subject-matter, the driving force, and the "environment".
A look at the flow of water; viscosity and pressure-gradients.
The phenomena of "boiling water".
The mechanisms of a "flame".
The initial threshold, or "barrier", to the combustion of wood.
Chemical potentials.
The "docking facilities" of an "enzyme".
Electro-static and -magnetic force-fields.
The kinetic energy of an inertial system; the pendulum.
Events taking place in the atmosphere.

We have seen, that it has become possible to grasp the innumerable forms or entities of existence and awareness under the concept of an oscillation between radiant and orbital forms of energy. This idea finds its most conspicuous expression in the idea of an expanding and contracting Universe, as the cosmic energy-distribution oscillates between a predominantly radiant and a predominantly orbital form of existence. We have also discussed the fact, that this oscillation is mirrored, countless times, in the myriad of radiating stars, which develop throughout the billions of galaxies that constitute the "expanded" or predominantly orbital phase of the Oscillating Universe.

The idea, that there exists within the sphere of our observations and existence a continuous inter-play between the radiant and orbital or "matter" forms of energy, has become an important focal point in our efforts to orden reality. As an introduction to such a fundamental re-organisation of our conscious grasp over our reality-perceptions, we have discussed, briefly, the principle of an event. We have seen, that the static objects of our awarenesses are only static, when we observe them over a relatively short time-interval, but, we know, now, that, even, the most static forms of existene are eventually caught-up in the oscillatory swings of the Universe. For pragmatic purposes, we may continue to divide our world of experiences into items of existence, which are essentially unchanging, and those, where the element of change is their most important feature. This latter category consists of "events".

We have discussed the many levels of observation, or worlds of knowledge, we can focus our attention on, and, we have seen, that we "shift gears", so to speak, when moving from one world of observation to the next. We "shift gears" by introducing a summarising concept, and, without the technique of grasping unmanageably complex worlds by a new, single or summarising concept, the faculty of conscious awareness would have become quickly over-burdened by a confusing input of data and variables. Even, with the help of such a summarising technique of encompassing concepts, we are still in danger of being overwhelmed by the multitude of our sense-impressions. In particular, when we look at the many levels of observations where we see events dominate, we start to realise, how important it is to develop a clear concept about the essence of an event.

We should also review, briefly, the differences between apparent guidance and randomness in the occurrence of an event, and, we should continue to discuss, somewhat more in detail, the consequences of a "flow of events". Let us also summarise, again, the ideas that lie behind the concept of a "possibility to exist", as well as the concepts of entropy or random distribution for those events that are able to "flow" towards their lowest possible level of energy. We will contrast the phenomenon of entropy with the apparent trend towards the opposite of entropy, or randomness, as we see in the increasing complexity, differentiation, growth in size or energy-potential of events that constitute the world of the living organisation.

After such an introductory review, we will embark upon a more detailed discussion of the complex, sequential organisation of events that take place in the world of the living organisation, and, it will be interesting to discuss the essential differences between the world of the living and the non-living organisation of matter. Here, too, we will emphasise, once more, the continuous inter-actions between orbital and radiant forms of energy.

There are three aspects to every event. There is, first of all, the "subject-matter" or substrate. This is, indeed, "matter", which is changed, in one way or another, during an event. In order for this change to occur, it must be "carried-out" by an existing force-field. The event may not involve real "work", in the sense that an opposing force has to be overcome by a driving force, but, there is always, at least, some inertia or friction to be overcome, and, without a driving force, this friction, inertia or internal resistance, would prevent the event from taking place. Finally, there is this whole constellation of circumstances and conditions, which determines the shape of an event. Just as we, ourselves, exist every moment of our lives in a complex and largely unknown constellation of factors and circumstances, so does everything else exist in a particular environment, and, as we will see, with one very important exception, an event is influenced, or guided, by the circumstances and factors, which do not themselves participate in the event as "subject-matter", nor, do they provide the driving force for the event.

These three aspects of an event come always to the fore, in one way or another. If we look at the flow of water in a river, we see, how the subject-matter, or substrate, "water", is constantly changing. Not only, are the molecules sliding constantly in relation to each other, but, their potential energy is constantly being dissipated, as they give-way under the force of the gravitational gradient. The driving force-field is, indeed, the gravitational gradient, which is sufficiently large to overcome the internal friction of water. As we know, this internal resistance is quite low in the fluid phase of water, but, it changes suddenly, when the molecules are trapped into the lattice of a crystal. Yet, the slipperiness of the molecules has a certain resistance, or viscosity, because the molecules remain quite close to each other and can not be compressed any further, as is possible, when the molecules float freely and independently from each other in the gaseous state.

The overall shape of a river is determined all along its course by its "bed", or "the environment". From an observation-post at a particular point along the river-bed, we see, how the water molecules are constantly forced into the particular configuration that exists at a particular point in the river-bed, but, if we follow the river over a certain distance, we see, how these contours change continuously, and, we understand then, why the local factors, or the shaping influences, are different from one location to the next. We see, that, the speed of the flow of water is proportional to the gravitational pressure-differential, but, it is inversely proportional to the cross-section of the flow-area, created by the contours of the river-bed. If we replace the water with a fluid that is more "sticky", we see, that the flow is slowed-down, because there is now more internal friction to be overcome. If the pressure-differential is increased by a more rapid drop of the river-bed, we see, that the flow of water is speeded up and becomes a "rapid", etc.

It is important to be consciously aware of all these phenomena, because the phenomenon of a flow of water through a bed, or conduit, is such a corner-stone in our efforts to comprehend the phenomenon of evolution, and, this example is so commonly available to everyone. This example illustrates, quite well, the three aspects of an event, but, you may wonder, whether or not it is justified to see all events as esssentially similar to the flow of water under the inluence of a gravitational pressure-differential.

Let us pursue this question. What about the event of "boiling water"? Here, the driving force is a thermal gradient and not gravitation, but, gravitation is involved to some extent, because it influences the pressure exerted by the air on the surface of boiling water, and, it determines, amongst other factors, the temperature at which water boils. The driving force is the thermal gradient, which has been created by placing a container of water on a source of heat, such as a stove. Water remains the subject matter, but the "environmental" circumstances influence, again, whether water boils "early", such as is the case when the atmospheric pressure is low, or "late", if water contains other molecules that prevent the "escape" of the speeding water molecules from the surface.

Heat increases the level of molecular agitation, or, the kinetic energy of the individual molecules. Eventually, they bounce so energetically off each other, that they separate and form a gas, "steam", and, the steam-bubble rises to the surface, if the lower layers of the water container are heated first. The bubble rises through colder water, and the gas may, then, cool again below the boiling-point. The bubble collapses, and, it does not reach the surface of the water container. Only when the entire container has reached the boiling point, will the water really "boil".

We do not want to give a course in elementary physics, because you are probably familiar with these modern scientific images of the events and phenomena around us. We only want to survey, quickly, whether or not all events are comparable to the flow of water in a river-bed. In the case of boiling water, the driving force is a thermal gradient. The water is the subject matter and "gives-way". It becomes a gas, when it has been heated sufficiently, and, a myriad of circumstantial factors determine the details, as well as the characteristics of a particular event that is taking place.

"What about a flame?", you will ask; "explain this in terms of an energy-flow". Again, the driving force is, at least, initially, a thermal gradient, because all combustible terrestial substances have to be heated, first, before they react further with the oxygen in the air. If there would not be such a "barrier", the substances could not exist side by side in the air, and, they would already have burnt spontaneously. Therefore, a piece of wood has to be heated, before it can take part in the combustion processes, but, during this process, there is a large amount of heat liberated, which is used, in part, to bring another piece of wood, or a neighbouring area of the same log, into a state of combustion, or "burning".

The burning of wood is a complex process, but, in essence, burning, or combustion, is a chemical reaction between different compounds, where molecules start to share some of their outer electron paths with each other. The oxygen combines with a variety of organic materials, which have been built-up by the tree when it formed the wood. We burn wood, when we need a source of heat for cooking, warming, or mechanical energy, such as an engine. We can not burn wood directly in an "internal combustion" engine, but many organic materials can be converted into a volatile liquid, which can be evaporated and form a highly combustible, even, explosive gas-mixture within an internal combustion engine.

The original substrate, or subject matter, is wood, or any other source of energy. The initial driving force is thermal, as the source of energy has to be "primed" before the flow of combustion can take place. The actual driving force is a chemical potential that exists between wood and the oxygen of the atmosphere. This chemical potential causes substances to react with each other under suitable conditions. Once this "flow" has been started, it continues, until the substrate, or, at least, one of the reacting substances, has been exhausted. During the flow of these events, heat is liberated, which is tapped and used for one purpose or another, just as the dissipation of gravitational energy in a flow of water, can be tapped as a source of energy.

We have discussed, here, three important driving forces; the gravitational force, which is a fundamental characteristic of the existence of matter; the thermal or electro-magnetic force, and the chemical potential, where molecules in close contact with each other, may be inclined to "share" electron path-ways. Often, such a process of electron sharing has to be facilitated by increasing the overall agitation, or kinetic forces, of the substances involved. Otherwise, they do not come close enough to each other to make such an electron-sharing process possible.

Sometimes, the act of bringing into close contact, or "docking", can be done by special catalytic or facilitating substances, which line-up or dock the substances involved, without themselves participating in the chemical reaction. This is the function of an "enzyme", and, throughout the realm of the living organisation, chemical energy-potentials are tapped in such a gentle and discreet manner, because the thermal agitation necessary to cause and sustain direct combustion, or burning, involves temperatures that could not be tolerated by the complex, but fragile organic compounds of life-forms.

There are other force-fields, such as the electro-static and electro-magnetic force-fields, the momentum, or the kinetic energy of an inertial system, which is a system with mass, such as a pendulum. Pressure differentials of one sort or another can be tapped as a source of energy. We have discussed an example of the pressure-differential based on gravitation, the flow of a river, but, many natural phenomena are based on thermal gradients, as we see in the atmosphere, where air, heated by the sun, rises and forms a "low-pressure" area, while air that is cooling off, becomes heavier and sinks. We have discussed, before, that we can relate nearly all the aspects of our weather and climate to the radiation, which the earth receives from the sun, as well as the gravitational factors that bind the molecules of the atmosphere to the earth.

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Chapter 2

Content

Electro-magnetic radiation is present throughout the Universe, even, in "empty space".
"Heat" represents a part of the electro-magnetic spectrum.
A review of early terrestial conditions.
The internal resistance to change by a crystalline lattice.
The slipperiness of water.
Cascading chemical reaction-patterns; a comparison with the water-fall.
There is no complete internal resistance of solid matter to external force-fields; the "flow" of a glacier.
Concentration-gradients; a few drops of ink in a glass of water.
The progression towards a state of homogenous dispersion; the concept of entropy.
Temperature differences have a tendency to equalise.
The ability of a hot gas to "do work"; the steam or internal combustion engine.
Thermo-dynamic mechanisms, and the concept of entropy.
Electrical potentials, chemical potentials, ions, and the electrical battery.
The trend towards heterogeneity; diversification or "individualisation".
Are these mechanisms specific for the living organisation?

Nearly always, is it possible to relate a particular energy-potential to the primary fields of force we have discussed, so far, because we see, that all pressure differentials can be related to gravitational, thermal or electro-chemical force-fields, and, it is quite comforting to realise, that the myriad of events in the many worlds of observation within our sphere of reality, have only a limited number of "driving forces". We see, also, that all forms of existence are, in essence, forms of energy existing, either in a radiant, electro-magnetic form, or in an orbital, "matter" form. In spite of the complexity of the forms of existence as they present themselves to our senses, our conscious intellect has been able to shape a framework of coherent relationships, where these awarenesses and experiences can be classified, either as an electro-magnetic, radiant form of energy, or as an orbital, matter form of energy.

It is, indeed, important to realise, that all matter is energy; radiant energy that has been locked-up in the atoms, nuclei and electrons that constitute matter. However, all orbital forms of energy, or matter, have also a "temperature"; an overall kinetic energy-content that is caused by the absorption of electro-magnetic radiation from the environment. At the same time, these orbital matter-complexes are also radiating energy back into the environment, even, the environment of "empty space", as they absorb and dissipate electro-magnetic energy in the form of "heat".

While it is true, that we see energy, either as a stable radiating form, or as a stable orbiting and oscillating form, all matter, except, when it exists at zero degrees Kelvin, has also a kinetic component of energy, which inter-acts with the electro-magnetic radiation that is present throughout the Universe, even, in "empty space". This was one of the reasons, why I wrote the essay "Oscillations", which speculates on the implications of this constant inter-action between orbital and radiant forms of energy. Certainly, the ubiquitous grid of electro-magnetic radiation contains many more frequencies than those, which we consider to constitute the spectrum of "heat".

The subject-matter that is changed by an event and participates in it, is, therefore, always a complex orbital or matter form of energy, together with a kinetic or thermal component of electro-magnetic radiation. The force-fields to which the subject-matter of an event is exposed, may be gravitational or electro-magnetic in nature, but, it may also be electro-static or macroscopic magnetic in nature. However, these last two force-fields seem to operate under more restricted conditions than those of gravitation and electro-magnetism. Chemical reactions and the force-fields of crystallisation are, in essence, electro-static phenomena, while the macroscopic magnetic force is due to a magnetic alignment of a large number of atoms or molecules.

All these force-fields need certain conditions of existence, before they can become a major or dominating influence. For example, the specific characteristics of terrestial existence made the fluid phase of water possible, together with the polymerisation of many, large, branched or pre-organic molecules, as well as the capture of photons by electron-excitation in some of these larger molecules. Even many terrestial solids appear solid and immobile, only, because our particular terrestial circumstances do not exert very strong thermal or gravitational force-fields, but, in space, and, especially, inside many stellar bodies, the circumstances are so different from those on earth, and the force-fields are so strong, that these substances, which are apparently immutable on earth, would "melt-away", or, rather, participate in some sort of an event.

Therefore, there is no absolute internal resistance. All molecular or elemental combinations are easily disrupted by the gravitational and thermal force-fields of a star, and, as we have seen, even, many atomic or nuclear structures are disrupted by the extremely high pressures and temperatures that exist within the interior of large stars. This is the reason, why no absolute immobility exists, and, why, sooner or later, even, the most immutable forms of matter become subject to change.

When an event is taking place, the subject-matter of change is "giving-way" to the forces that act upon it. Then, the forces that resist change, (usually internal, structural forces), have been overcome by an external force, or, they have been lowered by one mechanism or another, such as high temperatures. As a result, the subject matter changes into another form, and, these changes continue, until the substance that is participating in an event, finds a possibility to resist further changes. For example, water keeps flowing down-hill, until it finds a niche or depression, which allows a small quantity of water to collect in it. Then, the rim of this depression provides the resistance to the still existing gravitational gradient, and, as long as there is no water flowing over the rim, it will remain stable. Similarly, all molecules "jostle" and slide in relation to each other, until there are no more pressures to which they can "give-way".

A chemical reaction that has a possibility to take place, will do so, until the substrate, the subject matter, or, another ingredient taking part in the reaction, has been exhausted, and, the reaction will keep going-on, until a stable form has been reached. Most inorganic reactions that are familiar to us, change into a stable compound quite quickly, but, in the biochemical reactions, one compound may change for a moment into another, which is also unstable and changes, once again, etc. We see, here, the essence of a "chain-reaction", where long, cascading chemical reaction-patterns are taking place that "run-down" to stable, mostly inorganic compounds, if a particular raction can not be sustained by a continuing influx of new substrate or energy.

We have compared this sitation, often, to the water-fall. The water-fall can only exist, as long as there is a constant influx of new water to supply molecules that participate for a moment in the falling motion of water. By its very nature, the water-fall is unstable and needs a continuous replenishment; a situation, which has much in common with the living organisation, as we have discussed on many occasions, and, we will discuss these mechanisms again, when we talk about the principles of evolution in the living organisation.

Here, we want to emphasise the fact, that the subject-matter of an event does change, and, it keeps changing, sometimes very slowly, but, often, rather quickly, into a form of existence with a higher level of internal resistance, or, it changes into a state, where it has escaped the influence of the existing force-field. We can state, with confidence, that everything will, eventually, come to rest, once it has dissipated the pull of a force-field, or, after it has found a stable form of existence with a higher level of resistance to change. For example, water will continue to flow, as long as not all the molecules are evenly "supported" by counter pressures on all sides, or, water may stop flowing, if it changes into ice, which has, of course, a much higher, but not an infinite resistance to change under strong and constant gravitational pressures. Look, e.g. at the "flow" of a glacier.

The main point is this. The subject-matter of an event changes, until it finds a condition or circumstance, where the force-fields are not able to overcome the stabilising influences. For example, if I drop a few drops of ink into a glass of water, I see, that the ink spreads quickly throughout the entire container, even, if I add only one drop of ink to the water, being very careful to avoid all disturbances or convection currents in this glass of water. Eventually, all the ink molecules will have dispersed themselves evenly throughout the glass of water.

Why is this? As you know, all water molecules, including those of ink, are subjected to thermal agitation, or "Brownian movements", and, since the water molecules can all slide freely in relation to each other, it means, that they will move to and fro in a random movement, or, they may move more one way or another, if they are being jolted more on one side compared to the other. Since the forces to which a molecule is subjected, are not always completely balanced, the molecule wlll move randomly, then here, than there. These random or "Brownian" movements are, indeed, a very good example of what we mean by random movements, but, we also know, that each leg of such a random movement is the result of a complex web of forces that impact upon the molecules in the neighbourhood.

From the moment we introduce, carefully, a drop of ink into the glass with water, we see the existence of a "concentration-gradient", because the molecules of ink are not evenly dispersed throughout the fluid medium. This means, that it will be more likely for a molecule of ink to be pushed towards the side where there is less chance to be pushed back, and, we see, therefore, a gradual spreading process, until such a concentration-gradient is not present anymore. Here, we see an example, where an event "stops" as soon as the driving force has been "dissipated".

We should recall the fact, that the kinetic energy of the multiple collisions between molecules provides the actual driving force displacing these molecules, and, we know, that kinetic energy is, in essence, a result of the heat that has been absorbed from the environment. However, we assume, that there are no thermal gradients within the fluid, and the temperature of the water and ink is, therefore, identical. Therefore, the actual driving force, or the differential that makes the ink molecules disperse, is a function of the concentration-gradient, and not a temperature-difference of the water or the ink.

However, the speed with which this diffusion takes place, depends on the temperature. The higher the kinetic energy of the collisions of the molecules, the greater the effect of a concentration-gradient is, and the quicker, a dispersion will be completed.

This progression from a concentration-gradient to a state of homogenous dispersion will always take place, if the molecules can move under the influence of a gentle concentration-gradient. They can easily flow and disperse themselves when in solution, but, when these substances are brought together in a solid form, the crystalline lattices prevent any sliding movements of the molecules in relation to each other, and, we see, then, a good example, where an event remains only a potential event, because the interal forces of resistance are too strong for the existing force-field.

The trend from heterogeneity to homogeneity, resulting from the dispersing forces of a concentration-gradient, is an example of "entropy", but, we should remind ourselves, that the concept of entropy has been used in a variety of ways. This concept of entropy is important, because it seems to contradict the tendency to increase heterogeneity or concentration-gradients and localised energy-concentrations, which is so characeristic for the living organisation, and, if we want to understand the driving forces behind the organisation of life, we will have to answer, clearly and precisely, how, and why, the living organisation of matter can, and does, overcome the "homogenising" tendencies of concentration-gradients in a fluid medium.

However, concentration-gradients are not the only force-fields that show a tendency to dissipate themselves in a fluid medium by the homogenising trend of dispersion. All temperature differences tend to equalise themselves as well, and, it is in this field, that the concepts of entropy were developed first, in particular, in the observations that showed, why it was impossible to utilise, completely, a temperature difference as a source of mechanical energy, or, rather as a source of energy for the operation of a mechanical device.

For example, the local heating of a liquid, such as water, turning it into steam, or, the combustion of a volatile fuel within a confined space, may be used to "do work". The hot gas will exert a powerful force on the surrounding matter, and, if the expansion of the gas takes place in such a way that a piston is moved within an engine, this motion can be used to start a flywheel turning, etc. The principle of the steam engine, as well as the internal combustion engine, is based on the increased kinetic energy of gaseous molecules, caused by a local increase in temperature.

However, it became quickly obvious to the people who were studying these thermo-dynamic mechanisms, and, who developed, quickly, a remarkably coherent way of grasping and quantitizing these phenomena, that only a portion of the energy added as heat, could be transformed into a motion that could do work. Apart from the inevitable losses due to friction, it was shown, that the rapid tendency for this kinetic energy of the gaseous molecules to spread to neighouring molecules, meant, that the thermal gradient would quickly dissipate itself, and could only be captured partially in a different, useful, mechanical or electrical form of energy. Here, we have the initial development of the concepts of "entropy".

Concentration gradients, thermal gradients, but, also, gravitational gradients "level" themselves quickly in a fluid or gaseous medium, because the internal resistance of the molecules in relation to each other, can not withstand these forces. The same applies to water. We have seen, how water, when released from a container, spreads itself in such a way, that each water molecule comes to "rest", when it can not move anymore under the influence of the gravitational pull. This means, that, in a depression, hollow or basin filled with water, there are no gravitational pressure differences between the molecules at the same level.

Certainly, if layers of molecules are able to accumulate on top of each other, the pressure increases on the lower levels, but, the wall of the container prevents them from escaping, and, the increase in pressure on the molecules is therefore balanced on all sides. The molecules can not move anymore in response to this pressure. We all know from experience, how the pressure increases as we go deeper into water. Remember, how the pressures on our ears increase as we dive into a swimming pool?

In a fluid medium that contains "ions", (positively or negatively charged particles with full electron shells), we may tap this electro-chemical potential, if we provide a pathway for electrons to move into, or out from, the solution. Upon these principles rests the function of a battery. However, let us not go into the physics of an electrical battery. The main point we want to make, here, is the fact, that, in a fluid or gaseous medium, as well as the "medium" of life (because life takes place in an essentially fluid, protoplasmic medium), all the known force-fields such as concentration gradients, thermal, gravitational, electro-chemical or pressure gradients, tend to "dissipate" themselves, as a result of the "looseness" of the molecules of these fluid media. The lack of an internal, crystalline structure makes it possible for many molecules to react, or "give-way", to such force-fields, until the potential differentials have been dissipated, or, until the molecules can not react to them any further.

We get, therefore, the impression, that there is a tendency in all gaseous and liquid media, to disperse, homogenise or dissipate all force-fields to their lowest possible levels, and, this process of dispersion and homogenisation seems to contradict the developmental trends of the living organisation. We should discuss, therefore, the following questions; do we see, indeed, only homogenising trends in a fluid or gaseous medium, as a result of the dissipation of energy-gradients, or, do we see, also, trends towards a heterogeneity, diversification, or "individualisation"? How do these trends, which appear to be so contradictory and mutually exclusive, relate to the processes of life? Can we point to a specific difference in the way the events or processes of life are organised, compared to the changes and events taking place in the non-living systems of matter? Or, is it reasonable to see some sort of a similarity in the way living and non-living organisations of matter seem to evolve?

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Chapter 3

Content

Discontinuities and sudden transformations.
Examples, where the trend towards homogeneity, or random dispersion, is reversed in non-living processes.
Another look at the flow of water, and the emergence of energy-dissipating rivulets.
Events are always linked in nearly never-ending sequences, resulting from the circumstances as they happen to be.
Environmental circumstances are themselves products of complex sequences of events.
The mechanisms of energy-dissipation favour the larger channels because of their lower resistence to a flow of energy.
Non-living events are guided, but not "deliberately sequenced" through the functions of a "code"
Examples of meteorological mechanisms.
Non-living structures are never "built" under the influence of a genetic code or guiding principle.
Specific differences between living and non-living organisations.
Self-evident or surprising?
The evolution of the genetic code represents a non-guided series of events, while the reproduction of a living member of a species represents a strictly controled and deliberately linked sequence of events

Indeed, the impression, that there is always a tendency towards a state of homogenous dispersion in a liquid or gaseous medium, is incomplete, because there are also tendencies towards a discontinuity, a heterogenicity or a state of differentiation. For example, if we look at a gaseous cloud of water-vapour, we see, that, indeed, the water molecules disperse themselves as much as possible, until the temperature drops below a critical level.

If the kinetic energy of the water molecules becomes insufficient to keep them well separated, they start to cluster together into small droplets. This is the well-known process of "condensation", and, we see a similar process in a liquid environment, as soon the liquid starts to transform itself into a solid or crystalline structure. In both instances, the sudden reversal to a state of discontinuity is associated with a fundamental change in the relationships between the molecules, and, we see, here, the transformation of one state into another. As the processes of condensation and crystallisation continue, we see, again, a trend towards homogeneity, as most of the gas becomes liquid, or a super-saturated liquid becomes solidified into a crystalline structure.

Then, there is another example, where the trend towards homogeneity is reversed, and, where we see a continuous trend towards "condensation", or the clustering of matter. We are thinking, here, about the gravitational pull attracting matter particles into clouds of inter-stellar "dust", and, eventually, into ever larger aggregates of matter. These are the large stellar and galactic objects, which, long ago, condensed into the stars and other heavenly bodies, which we can now see or detect with a variety of instruments. This feature of gravitational attraction between the particles of matter-energy is a fundamental property of the existence of energy in the locked-up, orbital form, and, we have discussed before, how this property of gravitational attraction is a corner-stone, together with the properties of electro-magnetic radiation, in the maintenance of this gigantic, Universal Oscillatory System, where matter and radiant energy alternate their predominance.

Finally, we like to look, once more, at the flow of water through a river-bed or a small brook, because, as we have elaborated extensively before, the dissipation of gravitational energy through a series of water-falls or rapids is a very good example of the trend towards "growth", discontinuity, heterogeneity or differentiation, and, we see, therefore, that the apparent contradictory tendency of the living organisation towards such a state of growth and discontinuity, is not a characteristic that is peculiar to the living organisation.

We will not discuss, here, in any detail, how a homogeneous, soft bed of sand or mud, dissipating, continuously, a flow of water, quickly differentiates into a system of rivulets, which, eventually, merge into a few mighty rivers that dissipate this gravitational potential most efficiently. This imagery is probably quite familiar to most of you. The main point we want to emphasise, here, is the fact, that the trend towards discontinuity, growth, differentiation, heterogenicity, individualisation, or, whatever you want to call it, is not a peculiar or mysterious effect or result of the living organisation. It is not even limited to the existence of the living organisation, but, it is a normal, explainable and logical result of the continuous dissipation of a flow of energy.

The soft, sandy or muddy bottom allows the evolution of small streams, which keep growing in size and show a continuous tendency to merge, as long as there is this constant flow of water. The reason is, simply, that the larger or deeper the bed becomes, the easier this gravitational potential is dissipated. Water "favours", therefore, continuously, the easiest channels, because of the "sloping ground", or the gravitational gradient that exists between the river-bed and the higher drainage areas surrounding the river-bed.

We have used this image several times already as an introduction to the description of the emergence of life, but, here, we will concentrate on principles and broad outlines, which guide or regulate a variety of complex patterns in the living, as well as the non-living organisation. Before we discuss, in detail, the characteristics and peculiarities of the living organisation, we should look, carefully, at some of the complex sequences of events that take place in the world of the non-living organisation of matter and energy.

Perhaps, the sequence of solar radiation, water evaporation, cloud formation and droplet condensation, rain-fall, water run-off and its collection into lakes and seas, is a good example of such a complex series of events, which we all can be familiar with from personal experience. We see, indeed, that, events are always linked in nearly never-ending sequences, and, the "environmental" or guiding circumstances of each and every event is also determined, quite frequently, by a series of parallel events, or, events that are quite unrelated to the event we have focussed our attention on. And yet, the results of such a specific but unconnected event may function as a guiding or shaping influence in the event we are looking at. For example, if we look at the run-off of water in a river-system, we are loosely lumping all the guiding factors together under the concept of the "river-bed", but, each rock, particle of sand or clay, and each peculiarity or physical characteristic of this river-bed, has a history of its own, and, all these conditions of existence can be considered as the end-product of a long series of events that happened in the past.

However, the sequences of events we see, when we look at the cycle of water evaporation and its return to the basins of origin, do not show a guided or deliberately directed linkage, but, these factors remain "accidental" in their relationships. Solar radiation takes place because of the particular characteristics of mass, gravitational contraction, high temperatures and pressures, resulting in the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium, and, the fact that the earth gets heated to a balmy temperature, at least, in the tropic and sub-tropic regions, is an accidental specific. The earth happens to be at the right place to receive a large amount of radiation, but not so much that the water boils-away from the oceans.

We have discussed, before, how the circumstances of terrestial conditions, which made the evolution of the living organisation possible, were "accidental specifics", and, the same applies to the phenomenon of rain, clouds and the wind; in short, this entire complex of geological and climatological events which we exeperience on earth, depends on the existence of accidental specifics, which are completely un-directed, but, these accidental specifics have been persistent enough to allow the evolution of the living organisation.

Similarly, the water that is being evaporated by the sun "happens to be there", and, the clouds that form, are a result of the concentration of water-molecules exceeding the carrying capacity of the atmosphere because of a lowered temperature at higher altitudes. All these phenomena, the wind, due to pressure differentials, the gathering of storm-clouds, the collision of warm and cold air masses, the precipitation in the form of rain snow, sleet, hail or freezing rain, all these factors depend on the circumstances that "happen to be present". The fate of the water droplets after they fall back to earth, depends, also, on a large number of accidental specifics; where they happen to fall, what kind of a slope, what sort of ground, what sort of run-off, etc., etc.

Perhaps, you have asked yourself, with a measure of amazement, why I emphasise something that is so familiar and self-evident, that it seems hardly worthwhile to think or talk about it; yet, my dear reader, I hope, that you have experienced, by now, the fact, that it is just because of these so-called self-evident awarenesses, that we fail to see the significance of a particular observation or a correlation with another field. Just because we think, and feel, a particular reality to be so self-evient and familiar, we do not give it sufficient attention. Because we react so confidently with this familiar reality, day in and day out, we think that we know and understand this reality intimately. But, is this really so? Have you ever noticed, that these innumerable events seem to be completely un-linked and un-guided in their happenings, (not "un-guided" in the sense of no environmental input, but, "un-guided", in the sense, that they have not been linked in a deliberate sequence of happenings); have you ever noticed, that it is just this un-guidedness, or non-linkage, which sets the worlds of the living and the non-living organisation apart?

Probably not, because it is a fairly new idea, which I have not discussed, as yet, to any extent. Let me explain; the whole cycle of water evaporation and rain-fall, of run-off and river formation, even, of volcanic activities and continent building, are complex and sequential events, but each event is, in essence, un-linked to the others. This is the reason, why the pattern of evaporation and precipitation, of land-formation and the wearing-down of mountains, the shape and configuration of lands and seas, are always somewhat different from one location to the next.

However, if you look at the reproduction of a cell, or any living organism, you see, how a large series of happenings and events are carefully guided sequences, because they have been instructed or brought-about by the genetic code of the organism. This allows the reproduction of an identical, or, nearly identical, complex, living organism to take place, because largely in-organic materials and building-blocks are carefully woven into a fabric of the organic molecule, and, then, these organic compounds become an integral part of the living organisation in the form of a functioning cellular protoplasm, or, as a tissue or an organ-system, whenever we are looking at a community of specialised cellular organisms.

The non-living structures are never "built" under the influence of a genetic code or guiding principle. Even the atomic elements, the molecules, the stars and planets, as well as the myriad of items of existence we see on earth as part of the non-living world, find a possibility of existence without the benefit of a genetic code. Similar atomic elements exist, because they have come from the same or similar nuclear furnaces at the time large stellar bodies evolved and erupted, spewing-out a large variety of "heavy debris". Similar molecules exist because atomic elements of a particular nature will react with each other more or less in the same manner, under similar circumstances. A drop of rain-water looks so much like another rain-drop, because the circumstances of origin are so similar, and not, because they have been built-up by a similar, guiding structure, or genetic code.

"I knew this all along", may be your first reaction. "It has been well-known, that a genetic code is something specific to the world of life, and I do not understand, why you make such a fuss about it?". Indeed, we have known all along, that, only the living organisation of matter had a genetic code, and, we have understood, more precisely, in the last few decades, what this genetic code does; how it determines, not only, the growth, reproduction and specialisation of cells in the growing embryo of a multi-cellular organism, but, also, how it directs the metabolism and behaviour of all the cells in the body, throughout their existence. Yes, we know this, now, more precisely than ever before, but, I believe, that we have failed, so far, to emphasise this difference in the guidance of complex and linked events, as the essence of the difference between the world of the living and the non-living organisations.

Initially, the world of life was so strange, so utterly different from the non-living world, that man postulated the presence of a specially created, God-given force to "animate" the world of the living organisation. Only under the persistent scrutiny of modern science, has it been possible to see all the peculiar characteristics and possibilities of the living world as a matter of organisation, where essentially the same atomic elements and molecular complexes are incorporated into the living protoplasm, which populate the world of non-living matter. Yet, even so, the imagery of the biochemical happenings is difficult and still incomplete, and, the inability to create life artificially in a laboratory, as well as the fact, that we still are unfamiliar with many of the aspects of the living organisation and its disintegration into a state of death, are the driving forces behind the continuing search for the specific characteristics which set life apart from the world of non-life; characteristics, which set us also apart as human beings from the rest of the world of life.

In recent years, modern science has found it difficult to point to the precise and specific differences between life and non-life, because, life at the level of protoplasmic happenings, whithin a cell, seemed to become a finely tuned factory of biochemical compounds and machinery. Similarly, the search for specific and accurate criteria to denote the difference between the species "Homo Sapiens" and other anthropoid species', seemed to have run into difficulties. This brings-out the significance of emphasising the guided or linked nature of the events in the organisation of life, in contrast to the evolution by circumstantial specifics or accidents that play a role in the formation of the many non-living or in-organic structures.

Perhaps, you may still find this idea so self-evident and so logical, that you can not feel the emphasis to be justified. If so, so be it. For me, it was important to bring this crucial difference to the fore, because I find it now much easier to grasp the essential differences between life and non-life. However, we will also see, that, not all aspects of the development of the organisation of life are guided by a directed sequence of events under the inluence of a genetic code.

Perhaps, you are somewhat surprised by this statement at the end of the previous paragraph, where we introduce, once again, an element of non-linkage into the existence of the life-form. Perhaps, the statement, that the organisation of life is characterised by the function of purposefully linked sequences of events, has also come somewhat as a surprise, because it seems to contradict the prevailing concepts of natural evolution as an "essentially blind search for the possibilities of existence".

We will see, that these contradictions are only apparent, because, indeed, the evolution of species' is not under the guidance of the genetic code, which each and every species carries in each and every cell of each and every member, born into a species of life. The members of a species are all formed under the influence of their particular combination of genetic instructions, which has been received via the sexual mode of reproduction, and, as we have seen, this genetic code remains a dominating force in determining cellular as well as multi-cellular behaviour throughout the life-span of a member of a species.

However, the further developments, or, the changes that occur in the composition of the gene-pool of a species, (which genetic features will be emphasised and accentuated, and, which will be attenuated or dropped all-together from the genetic "vocabulary"), depend on the accidental circumstances which this gene-pool encounters, as it is carried forward from one generation to next. Surprisingly, then, natural selection acts upon the gene-pool like an event that resembles the happenings in the world of the non-living organisation, and not, like the world of the living organisation, as manifested by the individual existence of its members. Is this still self-evident to you?

This is an interesting conclusion or observation, is it not, and, it provides another bridge between the world of the living and the non-living organisations, even, if it happens to emerge at a place, where it was least suspected. Actually, these conclusions are quite logical, because the origin and the evolution of the genetic code, have to be "outside" the instructions of this code. Since we have no evidence, that the origin and development of the genetic code are themselves a product of another code, we have to come to the conclusion that the origin, growth and evolution, as well as the eventual "death" or extinction of the genetic code of a particular species, are not under the influence of any sort of code. Only the reproduction from generation to generation, is a function of the genetic code, where it exposes itself, so to speak, in each generation, to the forces of natural selection.

As we will see, the ability to change under the selective forces of survival and procreation, (in preparation for the next evolutionary test), depends on a certain variability, or spread, which has to exist, not only, from one generation to the next, but, also, within the members of a particular generation. After all, there would be nothing to "select" from, if each and every member of a particular generation would be identical. We also remind ourselves of the fact, that the forces of natural selection are often "dormant" for prolonged periods of time, whenever there is no specific bias of factor determining the differentiation between death and survival. Then, the genetic code of a species or population is transmitted from one generation to the next, virtually unchanged.

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Chapter 4

Content

Mechanisms of the genetic code.
The concept of actualisation, or "unfolding".
The unfolding of a pre-existing "plan", or the unfolding of events according to existing circumstances.
The evolution of the scientific reality perception; natural laws, or static principles of operation.
Events taking place on a galactic scale.
Do natural laws pre-determine, what is going to happen?
The concept of "accidental events".
A discussion of the concept of a "natural law".
Explaining natural events taking place at different levels of observation.
Natural laws that are operative in one field of vision have a tendency to disappear in another.

Indeed, the most interesting questions we can ask ourselves revolve around such problems as; how do the characteristics of the genetic code arise? How do we have to visualise the origins of a genetic code? Why is it possible for natural selection to influence the genetic characteristics, while we customarily make such a sharp distinction between acquired characteristics that are not inherited, and can not be transmitted to the next generation, and, the characteristics of the genetic blue-print, which can not be changed during the life-time of a member of the species?

These concepts remain somewhat difficult to grasp, and, they remain confusing, because it turns-out to be so extremely difficult to pinpoint, exactly, which features and characteristics are due to the "genetic code", and, which are the result of environmental influences. We will try to answer these questions, once more, in detail, but, we like to remind you, that we have discussed these aspects on various occasions.

Before we launch into a detailed discussion of the evolution of the living systems, let us spend a few thoughts on the concept of evolution itself, because we see, that we tend to use the word evolution also in connection with slowly changing, complex phenomena in the world of non-living existence; for example, we talk about the evolution of a star, a galaxy, or the Universe, the earth, or the solar system, or, we talk about the evolution of the earth's crust and climate, the mountains and seas, etc. What do we really mean, when we use the word "evolution"? Should we reserve this concept for the natural evolution of life? How does the concept of evolution differ from that of change?

The word evolution means "unfolding", and, in the word unfolding, we see, clearly, the idea, that the events, or the series of happenings that are occurring, reveal a "pre-existing" pattern, or, at least, we assume, that they are developing according to a "master-plan". This type of imagery is a heritage from our religious reality perceptions, where we visualise the myriad of diversities in the living and non-living world to be the result of an act of creation of a Divine Intelligence. These ideas imply, not only, a conscious act of putting-together the "raw materials" in order to create a particular entity, but, all the forces and events have similarly been created by a Divine Intelligence.

When man became more familiar with his surroundings and started to manipulate some of the forces around him, he gradually developed the experience and concept of predictability. We have traced, several times, this remarkable sequence of thoughts and observations which "evolved" into the scientific way of interpreting reality. In this type of reality perception, the notion of a specific creation gives-way to a concept of changes due to the presence of a series of force-fields. These forces will change, slowly or quickly, the apparently static appearance of an item of existence. The sciences have linked, quite successfully, a variety of observations and changes taking place in nature, including systems of living and non-living organisations. These linked changes and transformations have been formed into a coherent theme of more or less predictable happenings. The concept of an individual or specific creation has disappeared, and, the predictability of many events has been grasped in "principles of operation", or "natural laws".

Interestingly, the "Heavens", the Universe with its billions of galaxies and stars, has remained surrounded by an aura of "mystique" because, only recently, have we become somewhat familiar with the natural physical processes that seem to play a role in stellar and galactic phenomena. However, this scene of observation is far removed from any concept of "manipulability", (even, if we are able to manipulate, very cleverly, the electro-magnetic radiation that reaches us from these galactic and stellar objects), and these phenomena take place on such an awesome scale, that we remain somewhat doubtful, whether or not our ordinary physical laws and predictions apply to these worlds of existence.

Perhaps, it is, indeed, a subconscious acknowledgement of humility and awe, which lets us name the happenings and events on a galactic scale as "evolutions", because, by and large, we still react towards this sphere of reality in a way that is reminiscent of the attitudes and emotions associated with our religious beliefs. There is nothing wrong with this, and, it is entirely logical. Here, we are only interested in explaining, at least, to some extent, why we still apply the concepts of evolution, or unfolding, to the happenings on a cosmic scale, as well as to those extra-terrestial physical events that took place, and are taking place, during the evolution of atomic elements.

However, we should remind ourselves, that the evolution of the stars and galaxies, the Universe and the earth, as well as the atomic elements during a variety of intra-stellar nuclear transformations, are events and happenings that are not guided by the Creative Intelligence of a Divine Being, nor, are they "unfolding" according to a pre-existing plan of detailed instructions, like we see in the "unfolding" of a multi-cellular organism, growing from a fertilised egg-cell into a complex, multi-billion community with numerous specialised organs and functions.

Yes, I see, how you are raising your hand in an objection to what I have just said. You want to ask me, whether I am now denying the existence of natural laws, which "pre-determine", at least, to some extent, what is going to happen. Am I giving the impression that all events in the non-living systems are "accidental" happenings, depending entirely on the circumstances of existence that are present at a particular moment? Are these events dependent upon the characteristics of the subject matter, ready to take part in an event, as well as the force-fields that are supplying the energy, or the driving force, making the happening of an event possible? The answer is indeed, yes, but we should have a careful look at the concept of a "natural law", and, we should examine, once more, what guides the very small, as well as the very large events, which we can see taking place all around us.

A "natural law" is, first of all, a product of our conceptualising mind, but, it is more than just that. It is a generalised statement, or, rather, it is the abstraction of a static principle, which describes and predicts the behaviour of material bodies or quanta of energy. For example, the observation, that all objects fall towards the ground, became, eventually, expressed as a "law of gravitational attraction" between particles of matter, and, the usefulness of these generalised abstractions of the principles governing the behaviour of natural phenomena, was found in the fact, that it allowed often quite precise quantitative measurements and predictions.

These abstractions, or principles of operation, predict, not only, that each particle of matter will fall towards the earth when released, but, it also shows us, how fast this process of falling is taking place. Later, these principles were extended to the behaviour and motions of all "heavenly bodies", and, the laws of gravitational attraction allowed man, not only, to make sense of the wandering motions of the planets, but, they gave us an insight into the mass of stellar or galactic bodies. We see, that regularities and behaviour-patterns were grasped in many of the scientific fields by such generalised principles of operation or occurrence, and, the feeling of certainty and predictability was greatly enhanced, whenever a successful mathematical statement of a relationship was proven, again and again, by the "accuracy" of subsequent measurements of natural or experimental phenomena.

However, once the sciences started to "fuse", or, at least, when people started to become aware of the common ground in the atomic theory of natural existence, and, in particular, when the nature of light and other electro-magnetic phenomena were brought together in the beautiful theory of "essential equality" between matter and energy, then, it became possible to re-define these fundamental phenomena in a different way. Certainly, for practical purposes, the mathematical correlations and their conceptual statements remained useful tools in the various scientific fields, but, for the layman, trying to grasp the entity of nature in a sweeping overall view, it became much more sensible to emphasise the basic concepts of an oscillation between the radiant and the locked-in forms of energy.

True, we are not much closer to understanding the nature of gravitational attraction, or the fundamental characteristic of an electro-magnetic wave-packet, but, this imagery letting us see how energy always alternates between a radiating, open-ended form, and, an oscillating, closed form of existence, ties many different laws of nature together in a comprehensible over-view. For example, many of the laws of mechanics or thermo-dynamics, can now be grasped with the images of atomic theory.

We still have the fundamental concepts to work with, such as the concept of "energy", but, energy can be defined, now, in various ways. It may be represented by a radiating electro-magnetic wave-front, or, it may be the potential of a gravitational contraction between particles of matter. Energy may be a measure of velocity and mass, or, it may be the potential force in an electric or magnetic field. This variety of images representing such concepts as energy, force, mass, velocity or potential, encompasses, now, most of the "older" physical laws. These laws are not discredited, nor, have they lost their value or applicability, but, they have been superseded, to some extent, by an atomic imagery of matter and energy, where we constantly refer back to this fundamental oscillation between the radiant and orbital forms in which energy can exist.

Therefore, in order to answer your question more succinctly; no, the physical laws of nature are not discarded, nor, have they been proven wrong, but, in our imagery of the oscillation between radiant and orbital energy, together with the fundamental and "unexplained" characterstics of electro-magnetism and gravitational attraction, we can now find a far more comprehensive view of this same physical reality, which has been described and grasped in terms of a variety of "natural laws".

If we talk about the subject-matter taking part in a particular event, then, the imagery we have of this subject-matter is governed by our concepts of the existence of matter and energy. The properties assigned to the subject-matter reflect these concepts, and, they take, therefore, at least, implicitly, the previous generalisations of natural laws into account. Similarly, when we visualise a field of force as the provider of energy for the event, we make again use of the fundamental imagery of the existence of matter and energy, and, when we say, that the event is influenced by whatever circumstances happen to be present, we again take into account the same physical realities that have often been so succinctly summarised by classical physical theory.

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Chapter 5

Content

The inevitability of an event.
Macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic levels of observation.
Difficulties with the quantitative approach when describing the phenomena of life.
A fresh approach to the observation and description of the living organisation.
Describing facts and events in the light of existing reality perceptions.
Reasons, why the living organisation remains a "closed book".
An overwhelming variety of life-forms.
A remarkably coherent image of the living organisation.
Difficult classifications.
The art of preserving tissues for close examination after death.
A macroscopic "alphabet" of anatomical and physiological features.
The fruits of comparative anatomy.
Detailed knowledge of the living organisation is a recent fruit of scientific observations.
Chemistry and biochemistry have added another dimension to the understanding of the living organisation.

You may still feel, that my remarks in the previous chapter take-away some of the "inevitability" in the occurrence of natural events; an inevitability and strict predictability, which is such a comforting and prominent feature of our physical realities, together with all those well-known and precise natural laws. Perhaps, this is true, but, let me not give the impression, that it is always advantageous to discard the "classical imagery", which is so familiar to us, the older generations.

The circumstances under which an event takes place are not always influenced by a series of haphazard or un-linked events, such as we described in the previous chapter. Certainly, there are always factors that can be classified as "the environment", because, as we have seen, all events take place in a particular situation or environment, even, if these environmental factors are constant, or, at least, not influenced by other, extraneous factors. Some events of a galactic or cosmic nature take place in such overwhelmingly powerful conditions, that any "outside" or extraneous factors are dwarfed, and, such cosmic or galactic events take, then, place with an immutable regularity and invitability.

When we recall the imagery of the Oscillating Universe, as well as the explosions of large stars, or, perhaps, large clusters of stars, we know, that we are dealing with events and force-fields on such a gigantic scale, that none of the accidental circumstances of "the environment of space" seem to have any influence on their occurrence. Nevertheless, it is the existence of the myriad of matter particles, each one of them so hopelessly insignificant as a contributor to the force of gravitational attraction, which allows, eventually, the range of pressures and temperatures to be reached in which the seemingly immutable and indestructible protons and neutrons are, once again, destroyed and partly converted into radiant energy.

Even on a much smaller scale, the evolution of stellar bodies seems to be so predictable, depending on their size, that, many, if not most, of the "macroscopic events" in the Universe do not seem to be influenced, to any extent, by happenings in other celestial bodies. However, we can easily point to many observations in our terrestial sphere of "mesoscopic" awarenesses, where the precise outcome of an event is always influenced, at least, to some extent, by such a constellation of extraneous factors. We are, then, back to the field of observations we described before; the falling of rain, the scatter of a handful of sand when dropped on the floor, or, the Brownian movements of molecules in a solution.

Actually, we know very well, that our physical world is not as measurable and predictable as we would like it to be. In our conceptual grasp, we tend to ignore all these disturbing variations or deviations from the expected or calculated results, and, we brush them aside as "errors of measurement". However, we should remind ourselves, now and then, that the conceptual grasp of our physical realities, and, in particular, the mathematical statements and formulations of these realities, are, in essence, a simplified abstraction of a reality that is always more complex than we thought. This conclusion becomes even more obvious, when we look at a particular event more closely.

Yet, the ability to be satisfyingly close to a reality, which had been predicted and measured with the help of mathematical statements and quantitative relationships, gave an enormous impetus and confidence to the scientific approach to reality, but, a similar quantitative approach to the world of the living systems proved to be far more difficult.

As a matter of fact, the biological sciences only took-off on a flight of their own, after it had become apparent, that a somewhat different and fresh aproach had to be made to the observations and descriptions of phenomena in this field. The desire to grasp phenomena in mathematical certainties was frustrated, again and again, and, only, when we learned to look at the phenomena of the living world with an unbiased eye, void of the desire to quantitise, but, intent on describing, precisely, what we could see, only, then, became it possible to abstract generalised statements and concepts, which were applicable to this world of the living organisation.

What did we see, and, what kind of generalised statements can we make about the world of living matter? Unfortunately, we have not been able to grasp the phenomena of the living systems with the same confidence and sense of finality, as we have been able to capture the essence of the non-living systems. We are more familiar with the world of inorganic existence than the world we belong to ourselves. We formulate the natural laws or generalised principles of the world of physics, the stars, and, even, the Universe, with a greater degree of coherence, than we are able to describe the essence of existence and the functions of life in the sphere of the living organisation. Why is this?

Indeed, the study of the living phenomena has always been, and still is, far more difficult, than the observation of phenomena in the non-living world. Even a simple description of the various anatomical parts of the many life-forms we know about, has often led to disagreements about classification and interpretation. Besides, we have come to appreciate the importance of the inter-action between a life-form and its environment, which makes it understandable, why there is, so often, an emotional or instinctive reaction, when man has to deal with a variety of life-forms in his environment. Man was, and still is, to a large extent, involved in a behavioural complex with emotional and instinctive features, especially, when he has to deal with the world of living animals. He perceives them frequently as a "prey", or, as a source of food, and, man hunts the animals in a complex and often taxing excercise requiring the cooperation of many people. The hunt is, primarily, an emotional experience with its physical activity, its strenuous demands, the sensations of victory and triumph during the kill, or, the feelings of disappointment when a prey has escaped. Or, there may be the tragedy of a fellow member who has been wounded or killed. All these highly emotional and existentially significant circumstances do not lead to an atmosphere of quiet and contemplative wonderment, what the nature of life is all about, and, how the machinery of life "works".

The killed animal, or the deceased hunter, are not examined in an objective and detached manner, in order to understand the intricacies of anatomical details, but, the butchering of the prey, or the burial of the hunter, take place with the existential needs of the small community very much in the forefront. Man and beast alike, whether killed intentionally in a hunt or a battle, or dead from injuries and disease, are decaying quickly, and, this process is characterised by the abhorrent smell of death. This process of death and decay was certainly an additional deterrent to the careful and time-consuming examination of the living organism.

Even much later in the evolution of man's observational skills, when larger communal organisations made a greater degree of specialisation in social functions possible, even, then, the first attempts to describe and catalogue a variety of life-forms ran into difficulties. The variety of life-forms was so overwhelming, that it remained extremely difficult to bring a semblance of order in the abundance of features that could be seen. A simple description is not as simple as it may seem, because we describe everything in a classification of qualities and a framework of beliefs, which has been absorbed or assimilated from the cultural environment. Therefore, descriptions by observers from the past regarding common phenomena and life-forms which are still around us today, essentially unchanged, seem strangely incomplete and inaccurate, and, we are somewhat puzzled, why ancient observers had such great difficulties describing something simply and directly.

We just have not realised, as yet, to what extent these "simple descriptions" are dependent upon the beliefs and knowledge of the observers, as well as the cultural tools they have absorbed from their environment. Just as we have argued, before, that we do not "see" a simple, disc-shaped bright-yellow object when we look at a full moon in a clear sky, but, a sphere, encircling the earth, consisting of cold rocks and a thin layer of dust, lit by the sun and visited by man, just recently, so are all our descriptions and sense-impressions we can describe when looking at a phenomenon of life, strongly coloured by what we have learned, and, what we believe to be true.

Let us be aware, therefore, how great the differences may be, when people with different backgrounds look at an item of living existence. These differences depend upon our knowledge, as well as the intentions we have when inter-acting with a life-form in an existentially significant manner. We see a similar difference in the art of description, when we ask people from a different cultural background to describe a certain object of use. If you would aks a complete stranger with a different cultural background, a different language, and different objects of daily use, to describe to you, through an interpreter, of course, what he sees, when he looks at the, for you, familiar surroundings and objects, you would find it difficult to recognise any particular object from his descriptions, even, if the translation would be carried-out competently and faithfully.

Similarly, it is unlikely, that, observers of the past could have made descriptions that are still entirely valid for us today, if such observers did not have the benefit of knowledge about the essential physiology and anatomy of living structures. This brings us back to a conclusion we have reached time and again; nl., that we see and describe things according to what we know and believe to be true, and, if this knowledge, or way of interpreting reality, is different from a contemporary reality perception, the descriptions of sense-impressions or observations have to be different as well.

It is truly remarkable, how thousands, if not millions, of careful observations of living nature were, eventually, able to show man a somewhat coherent picture of life. We are thinking, here, not only, about the coherence of evolutionary change, but, also, about the coherence of a system of classification, which had to develop, before we could even begin to become receptive to the ideas of evolutionary change.

Eventually, it became possible to delineate in the world of the macroscopic, multi-cellular life-forms, a certain system of classifcation with the recognition of such units as a species, a family, a phylum, etc., depending on the features that were being classified. I am not a zoologist or a botanist, not even a biologist, and, I am certainly not familiar with the complex classification systems of the many species' that still exist, or have existed in the past. I am only emphasising, here, the idea, that the beginning of our grasp over the phenomena of life began, when man learned, finally, to recognise regularly recurring features in the anatomy of animals and plants. Even so, the progress was slow, because the field was so large and the tasks so complex. Man had to specialise, from the beginning, in order to make a dent in these tasks. Slowly, principles of classification emerged and became widely accepted, and, for a long time, the number of species' and sub-variants that could be added to the lists of classifications, seemed to be without end.

However, we should not forget, that the schemes of classification were also facilitated by the evolution of anatomical and physiological principles. Slowly, the art of anatomical dissection improved, but, here again, nature did not make it easy to understand the secrets of the many internal structures and special sense-organs of the living systems. Slowly, the art of preserving tissues after death, and recording anatomical details and physiological mechanisms, improved, and, with it, an understanding grew about the many recurrent structures that were seen, again and again, in so many different species'. The same structures were seen, not only, in the members of the same species' but, even, in widely diverging species', and, slowly, it became possible to see the structure and function of the living systems in a broad and coherent light.

In this way, a "macroscopic alphabet" of anatomical and physiological features arose, which facilitated an understanding of the behaviour of the intact, living animal, and, it also became an important instrument in comparing the structure and function of one species with another. A comparison between the body lay-out of the human being and many other, closely related, animals, showed, how surprisingly similar the human body was, in structure and function, compared to other vertebrates, and, specifically, to the mammals and the anthropoids. As a rule, external differences in the appearance and behaviour of a particular species, became much less important than the similiarities that were apparent, whenever the body-plans were compared with each other.

We tend to forget, how recently, in terms of human history, man learned about such fundamental facts as the existence of a circulatory system, or, the cellular units, which are the fundamental building-blocks of a multi-cellular organism. Only, when the microscope had been invented and developed, became it possible to peek beyond the range given to man by his senses, and, only then, with the help of the microscope and other instruments, could he add the microscopic worlds of tissues and blood-cells to the macroscopic world of organs and anatomical details.

Again, later, another dimension was added to the study of the living systems, when man learned to manipulate solids, solutions and gases in order to analyse the molecular constituents of various tissues. When the science of chemistry was applied to the study of tissues and the products of living organisms, it opened-up a wide world of existence that had been completely hidden from man's macroscopic view. Only, then, became it possible to lay the foundation for an interpretation of the world of living existence, tracing a more or less coherent picture from molecules to complex biochemical sequences; from the sub-structures within the protoplasm and the nucleus of a cell, to the world of cellular differentiation and large populations of specialised cellular communities.

Then, we are back to the large-scale, organ-systems, which were the structures visible to the naked human eye and formed the beginning of the sciences of anatomy and physiology.

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Chapter 6

Content

A review of the scientific specialties that are revelant for the study of the living organisation.
Challenges to the Christian reality perception.
Very likely, we will never have a complete picture of evolutionary changes that took place on the early earth.
An important distinction between an evolved and a created reality.
Mechanisms of evolution are at work within the time-scale of human observations.
An ambitious agenda.
Not all promises have been fulfilled in the remaining pages of this essay.
Referring the reader to the numerous essays that have been devoted to the topics mentioned.
A review of pre-cellular evolutionary changes.
The "flow" of biochemical events, and their similarity to the mechanisms of a water-fall.
The phenomena of growth and differentiation are a natural result of the dissipation of an energy-gradient.

While it is possible, at least, in theory, to trace a somewhat coherent picture from essentially inorganic elements to the existence of intact, living and complex multi-cellular organisms, including the human being, we should not forget, that this imagery is spread over a large variety of scientific disciplines. These specialised scientific fields range from biophysics, botany and zoology, to the science of histology, (the knowledge of tissues), to the macroscopic sciences of anatomy and physiology. In addition, we have such fields as genetics, which is the science of gene function and genetic transmission, the behavioural sciences, where animals are studied as they inter-react with their natural environment, and, if we look at the human being in particular, we see another series of specialised fields, such as psychology, medicine, anthropology and sociology.

We do not want to trace any of these scientific fields, nor, should we give the impression, that these are the only fields involved in the knowledge of man, or the living organisation in general. We only want to emphasise the fact, that the scientific knowledge about the world of life has developed over so many different fields of specialised knowledge, that it becomes very difficult for a single individual to oversee this entire spectrum, let alone, know every field in detail. This necessary, and, perhaps, unavoidable fragmentation of knowledge is, also, one of the reasons, why it has not been possible, so far, to grasp the entire field of the living phenomena with a number of valid generalised statements.

Before it is possible to do so, we have to grasp, first, the essence of all these fields, including the essence of the living organisation as a whole, and, it has to be done in a way that is comprehensible for a single human being. Only, after we have learned to summarise the essence of knowledge of the living systems within the grasp of a single individual, will it be possible to formulate a set of principles, or "natural laws", governing the behaviour of the living systems.

So far, we have only discussed the perplexing variety of existing life-forms, and, the picture becomes even more complicated, when fossil evidence is taken into account. This evidence indicates, that, many, perhaps innumerable species', did exist in the past, but have since become extinct. It took some time, before the full implication of fossil evidence was recognised, and, these difficulties of recognition were, in part, related to an instinctive aversion to make an already confused picture even more complex.

However, the main reluctance to accept the evidence of extinct species', was related to the fact, that, such notions contradicted the concepts of a Divine Creation, as outlined by the Sacred Scriptures. However, in stead of complicating the interpretation of the living organisation, a greatly expanded insight into the past history of the earth and its living inhabitants, laid the foundation for an evolutionary over-view about the existence of so many species'. Only slowly, did the idea of evolutionary change gain ground, because, this too, conflicted with the biblical concepts, just as the discoveries and ideas of Copernicus, several centuries earlier, challenged the fundamental reality perceptions of the Christian Faith.

Eventually, the accurate description of subtle sub-variations in species' as a result of a prolonged period of isolated existence, made the evidence for an evolutionary process much more persuasive and attractive, and, it seems justified to say, that, each and every branch of science has accepted the ideas about a natural evolution of life-forms, as well as all other items of existence. This does not mean, that we have an accurate image or "proof", how such an evolution occurred, and, perhaps, we do not even have a clear idea about the essential outlines of what happened over the long history of terrestial development and natural evolutionary changes. It is very likely, that we will never have an exact picture of these evolutionary changes as they took place in the terrestial environment, and, it may well be, that large periods in the development of life, in particular, of cellular and soft-bodied multi-cellular evolution without a fossil record, will always remain open to speculation.

However, we may make a clear distinction between the concept that some sort of evolution took place, (in contrast to the concept of a "created reality"), and, the claim, that we know, exactly, how this process of evolution occurred, and is taking place today. As we study the phenomena of life more closely, we get a better idea, what evolution is all about, and, we have now tangible proof, that evolution does take place, because we have been able to see it, and record it, in a number of micro-organisms that became resistant to antibiotics. We saw the mechanisms of natural selection also at work in the adaptations of small insects to the presence of industrial pollutants and insecticides. The question is, therefore, not anymore, whether or not evolution does take place, but, the question becomes, how we have to visualise the evolution of different life-forms.

It is clear, that we can not really formulate a coherent imagery of evolutionary change, if we do not have a coherent image about the essence of the living organisation, and, we should again remind ourselves, (when trying to formulate a coherent generalised statement about the essence of life and evolutionary change), that we are not trying to formulate an absolute reality, but, only, a plausible ordening of the numerous awarenesses and sense-impressions we have accumulated. Let us try to formulate, first of all, the essential principles that govern the existence of all living systems, and, at the same time, we will refer, again and again, to the imagery of the evolutionary changes all living systems are subjected to. We will see, that it is not possible, and, not even desirable, to make a sharp distinction between the essence of living existence and the force-fields they are exposed to. It is the inter-action between these force-fields and the living systems, which results in a slow evolutionary change of the species', as generation follows generation in a seemingly endless succession of evolutionary trials and errors.

First, we should review the speculative images we have indulged in before; about the most likely way life emerged from non-living existence in the early, primordial evolution of protoplasmic constituents and their organisation. We should not trace this imagery in detail, partly, because we have done so before, and, partly, because this imagery remains quite speculative. We hope, however, to extract a number of principles, or generalised statements, which may be useful and valid, regardless of the precise details which may have taken place at a molecular level.

We hope to show, that the characteristics and qualities of protoplasmic events, and, later, the events of an independently metabolising and reproducing cell, are qualities that are inherent in the properties of the inorganic atomic elements and molecules that took part in these processes, and, we hope to discuss, also, the emergence of qualities that seem specifically limited to biochemial substances. We hope to show, that these qualities depend on physical and chemical events made possible by the accidental circumstances that existed during the early evolutionary history of the planet. In short; the peculiar and seemingly unique characteristics of the living cell can be traced to the emergence and accentuation of pre-existing qualities and potentials, and, it is, therefore, not necessary to introduce a special "living principle", when discussing or explaining the phenomenon of life.

However, we like to point again to a psychological mechanism we have dicussed before. As we step from one world into the next, while crossing the many worlds of the living systems, we lose sight of the events and happenings in the previous world, and, we make then use of "summarising" concepts. The concept of the "cell" is a good example of what we mean. The complexity of biochemical events taking place within a cell are confusing, in spite of the fact, that we are getting close to the stage, where we have a continuous imagery of biochemical reactions taking place within the cell. However, the complexity will remain difficult to manage, even, if, and when, we are able to elucidate all the chemical details that take place within a cell, and, we will, therefore, always make use of this summarising concept of "the cell".

The same psychological adaptation applies, when we make the step from the world of the cell to the conceptual and functional unit of a single, multi-cellular organism. We have to make it plausible, however, that such a continuity of function exists, in spite of the fact, that we have to make use of these various levels of observation and conceptual synthesis, in order to manipulate and understand these realities.

We like to pay particular attention to the overall trend of increasing complexity, which we see in the organisation of living systems, and, we want to discuss this trend in the light of the concepts of entropy. We will also discuss, in detail, the mechanisms of reproduction and genetic instructions, because the viability of the living organism depends on these mechanisms. We will again recapitulate, briefly, the principles of guidedness and randomness in the occurrence of an event. Finally, we want to discuss, in overall outlines only, the characteristics of behavioural flexibility, as well as this intriguing off-shoot of this trend; the human species, with its remarkable capabilities of forming and manipulating conscious, verbalisable, communicable belief-structures and concepts. As a part of the discussion about the phenomena of human existence, we will round-off the discussion about principles of evolution by discussing, briefly, the development of a cultural heritage, as well as its implications for the viability of mankind.

This is an ambitious project, and, when reviewing the remainder of this essay, as it came out after this plan had been written-down, it is clear, that, only a fraction of these intentions has been realised. However, as the reader knows, my entire work is concerned with the objectives that have been sketched above, and, therefore, I let it stand, not so much as an index of discussions to come in this particular essay, but, as an overall indication of my approach to writing essays.

The particular physical conditions and circumstances of the earth, its size and mass, the nature of its constituents and its atmosphere, its distance from the sun and the speed of its rotation around its axis, as well as around the sun; the tilt of the earth's axis in relation to the plane of its solar orbit, all these factors of happenstance determine the temperature on the surface of the earth, the composition of the surface and the atmosphere, the progression of the seasons, as well as the daily variations between darkness and light. The existence of water in its liquid phase, the type of solutes in the seas, the temperature of the water, as well as the conditions, where molecules can combine, fall-apart and re-combine in the near end-less possibilities of polymerisation, they all depend on these factors of happenstance which we enumerated above.

We know, that organic or biological matter is composed of a variety of ordinary in-organic elements, and, the essence of a biochemical substance is based on the curious property of some of these elements, (such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, together with a variety of other elements, such as phosphorus, sulfur, iron, copper and manganese), to form complex molecules, or polymers.

The proteins, in particular, seem to have been built-up from a basic "alphabet" of amino-acids, which are precursors of proteins, but, only, a handful of amino-acids are used in the contemporary synthesis of living matter, or, rather, the living proteins in the organisation of life. Polymers and other, less complex molecular formations, led to the existence of numerous substances with differing physical, electro-chemical and solubility characteristics, and, we have discussed, on previous occasions, a fairly elaborate hypothesis, how the presence of polymerising molecules and other solutes in a luke-warm sea of water, is a reasonable explanation for the happenings of this natural "protoplasmic experiment", which took place during the billion years, or so, of pre-cellular evolution.

Here, we will only enumerate a number of the principles we can formulate as an overall outline of these bochemical permutations. First of all; we see, that a particular set of physical characteristics of atomic elements and molecules brings-out a number of "possibilities of existence and peculiarities of behaviour" for these highly complex and fragile polymers. Just as the various phases of a substance, e.g. water, depend on physical conditions, (primarily those of temperature and pressure), so are the polymerising capabilities or tendencies of certain elements brought-out by their existence in a watery environment, within in a particular temperature range.

Many bonds in polymers are rather weak and would be disrupted, quickly, by a level of thermal agitation that would not disturb the more common bonds between elements of "inorganic molecules". The organisation of life rests, indeed, upon the fragile nature of many chemical bonds, or temporary binding processes in complex molecules. Just like biochemical processes outside the realm of life, (the decay of death), these fragile bonds would quickly disappear, or run-down to their lowest energy-level, unless they are continuously shielded and replenished.

This is the reason, why the flow of biochemical events in the living oganisation has been compared, time and again, to the existence of a water-fall. As long as there is a continuous influx of water, the fall continues to exist. The existence of a rapid, or water-fall, is, therefore, made possible as a channel that is constantly dissipating gravitational energy. We have also discussed, how a river-system can grow and change from a state of homogeneity to one of discontinuity, as long as it has an abundant source of energy to dissipate. Here, we see an important principle that explains the growth of life-forms and their differentiation into more complex forms.

The system that exists as a channel for the dissipation of an energy-gradient, will grow and increase in complexity, if it is flexible and receptive to the moulding influences of the flow of energy. While the energy-gradient itself is being dissipated by these channels in accordance with the laws of entropy, the channels of dissipation can, and will, be built-up into complex and higly efficient channels, if these channels are flexible and can be moulded by the continuous stream of energy flowing through them.

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Chapter 7

Content

A luke-warm sea of complex polymers.
Discrete biochemical reactions take place with the help of "guiding substances" with docking facilities; enzymes.
Biochemical chain-reactions are dissipating a solar energy-gradient.
The emergence of larger and more complex rivulets for the mechanisms of biochemical energy dissipation.
The phenomenon of competitive existence.
Behavioural features of inorganic elements and organic complexes are being kept available and sheltered within the living organisation of protoplasmic matter.
A discussion of enzymes and their docking facilities.
The emergence of a stable, non-participating polymer, a "docking booth" for a polymerising substance.
The emergence of the capability of reproduction.
Extrapolations of mechanisms taking place in contemporary cells.
Messengers from the genetic code.
The random juxta-position of inorganic molecules in nature is insufficiently frequent to reproduce the functional capabilities of a radio, or any other electronic instrument.
Branching-points in the rivulets of energy-dissipation; the build-up of complex substances, carbo-hydrates, lipids and proteins.
A fading possibility of existence; rising strains and stresses on the viability of protoplasmic inter-dependencies.
The protoplasmic constituents of contemporary cells reflect the conditions of existence at the time life originated, while the seas of today reflect, to some extent, the interstitial fluid of multi-cellular oganisms.
Life almost did not make it; only a handful of biochemical chain-reactions survived the test of time.
Leaving the world of cellular and pre-cellular evolution.
The numerous specialisations of function seen in multi-cellular organisms are fore-shadowed in the capabilities of the single cell.

In the systems of life, the energy that is being dissipated, is the photonic energy from the sun, which has been captured by electrons in the outer shells of susceptible compounds. If these electrons "fall-back" into their original orbit, they may emit their excess energy in a process of "bio-luminescence", or, the excited electrons may fuel a series of chemical reactions between neighbouring polymers.

In the luke-warm seas of complex polymers, chemical reactions occur "discretely". There is no room for the sudden, explosive combustion with a large increase in temperature, which is the characteristic of "work done" by internal combustion engines, or the burning of combustible materials as they combine with the oxygen of the atmosphere. Biochemical reactions are more subtle, and, they require, therefore, a close approximation of the reacting compounds. Because these compounds are often very large, they will have to "dock" carefully, in order to come close enough to each other for a reaction to take place. Therefore, biochemical compounds react only with each other, if they can be brought into such a close contact, and, this requires a somewhat similar or complementary configuration.

In the absence of special "guiding" substances, we see, that the incidence of a chemical reaction is low, depending on chance collisions and contacts, facilitating the transfer of a quantum of biochemical energy, but, if there are substances in the surrounding fluid which can facilitate such a fortuitous alignment of these large polymers, the incidence of biochemical reactions can be greatly increased.

Throughout the biochemical reaction-patterns of the living substance, (the metabolic processes of life), we see, that such special regulating or "docking" substances play a crucial role in bringing-about biochemical transformations. These regulating substances are the "enzymes" of the living tissues, and, there is virtually no biochemical reaction taking place wihout the mediation of an enzyme. The existence of suitable biochemical substances for a series of reactions or chain-reactions, dissipating the captured solar energy, will, therefore, be enhanced by the presence of such docking substances, or enzymes. These enzymes can be compared to the "environmental influences" that guide and regulate an event.

In short, the viability, or the ease of existence, for such a fragile chain of biochemical substances, improves, and, the flow of energy is, therefore, channeled more efficiently through a system that dissipates the available energy with the help of such facilitating substances.

We see, therefore, the emergence of larger and more complex rivulets of biochemical energy-dissipation. These rivulets compete with each other and absorb the small rivulets lying in between them. This is the principle of competitive existence, and, it is important to emphasise, that the phenomena of discontinuity, growth, increasing complexity, competitive existence, as well as stability resulting from the presence of "docking" or facilitating mechanisms, are all features of "material behaviour", which are not dependent upon the existence of an intact living system. Rather, we should see the display of these behavioural traits as the result of chacteristics that are inherent in the existence of certain substances, and, these substances are "kept available" and their presence is being sheltered by the living organisation of matter, because these properties form an integral part of these dissipating channels of energy, which are, after all, the hallmark of every living organism.

It is important to discuss the docking functions of an enzyme more in detail, because these docking capabilities are not limited to enzymes, but, they play a crucial role in the formation of the genetic code as well. If viability is enchanced by enzymes because of an increased efficiency in dissipating the captured solar energy, then, the existence of enzymes is favoured, and the enzymes are protected, because the system with proper enzymes will survive better compared to a system that does not have such "docking facilities".

However, we are dealing with extremely fragile systems, because the entire complex of polymers in those luke-warm seas tends to break-down, form and re-form, countless times. Some substances formed by chance, will have a greater stability than others, and, even, if a stable substance does not participate in the chain of biochemical reactions, it still may influence, profoundly, the possibilities of existence for the randomly polymerising molecules in the immediate environment.

What we mean is this; imagine such a rather stable, non-participating polymer to have been formed, by chance. Because of its inherent stability, it survives without changing, while the molecules in the environment break-down and recombine. However, such a large, inert molecule is like a giant dock, because it will allow certain molecules to come close together, as it provides spaces which favour particular configurations. Therefore, the random polymerising activities are now "guided" by the presence of such docking facilities, favouring the polymerisation of complementary images, or substances, that are a mirror image of the docking substance.

We visualise, now, the possibility, that a series of small molecules, after having lined-up in a number of "docking booths", will form a polymer, and, then, they "slip-out" of these docking booths, allowing a similar complementary polymer to be formed. The principle we see emerging is this; if stable, but inert polymers are formed during the process of random polymerisation, these polymers will favour the production of "complementary" polymers in their neighbourhood because of the directional guidance excercised by the original, stable polymer.

This guidance favours the existence of some molecules, and, it discourages the formation of others, depending on their configuration. This leads, not only, to complementary or mirror images of the original, stable polymer, but, the complementary polymers are identical to each other. The process of random polymerisation has, then, been changed to a guided or favoured existence for certain similar or nearly identical polymers.

If these stable polymers do nothing else, we see, eventually, a stagnant pool of rather stable polymers, while, in other areas of the protoplasmic primordium, a much more active process of random experimentation with existence possibilities is still going-on. However, if these stable polymers are finding a function in facilitating the emergence or existence of other polymers that can and do participate in the process of energy dissipation, then, we see, how the existence of stable, inert polymers may compensate for the fragility of participating biochemical substances, by favouring their replacement with similar molecules.

In other words; we see, here, the emergence of the quality of "reproduction", and, we would like to emphasise, once again, the concept or idea, that this quality of reproduction is not a characteristic that comes only to the fore in the complete, living organisation such as the intact, living cell, but, reproduction is a characteristic that comes-about naturally and easily, if we examine the consequences of polymerisation and differences in the level of stability between polymers that have been formed by a random process of trial and error.

This imagery may appear highly speculative and improbable to you, because you may rightly ask yourself, how we are ever going to "know", what happened in this distant past. Certainly, we will never know, exactly, what happened during this fascinating time-period of the evolution of the protoplasmic primordium, but, if we look at the mechanisms of genetic coding and guidance in the living cells of today, we see the same mechanisms at work. Then, this imagery becomes simply an extrapolation of contemporary cellular mechanisms.

We see, how the genes of a cell function as a "template", where a mirror-image or complementary strand of stable polymers is being produced. This strand, then, "lifts-off" the template and functions as an instructor for a variety of biochemical processes that are going-on. We also know, that these templates are carefully shielded from damaging influences, because the metabolic machinery of the cell depends, not only, on a continuous flow of such regulating and instructing "messengers" from the genetic structures, but, the whole process of reproduction and specialisation in function depends on complex sequences of instructions from these genetic templates.

We are only just beginning to have an idea, in molecular terms, how these messengers are being formed, and, how the metabolic processes are being regulated. We have still only vague ideas, how the processes of cellular reproduction take place, or, how the complicated processes of embryonic development and cellular differentiation occur in the reproduction of a complex multi-cellular organism.

We want to emphasise here, once more, the epochal importance of the principle of reproduction, because, unlike the non-living system of organisation or material existence, the living organisation has become completely dependent for its continued viability on a succession of generations, and, this requires the maintenance and safeguarding of a sequential key of guided events and instructions, because the circumstances of randomness would never be able to occur with a sufficient degree of frequency to allow the perpetuation of such fragile systems of existence as the organisation of living matter.

Unless biological or biochemical events are guided in a very specific and precisely instructed, complex series of happenings, it would never be possible for nature to put-together the structural and functional relationships that make-up a living cell. Just as the random juxta-position of inorganic molecules in nature is insuffiently frequent to "hit" upon a viable and reproduceable combination of e.g. a radio, or some other electronic instrument, so is it physically and statistically impossible for the temporary and fragile organisation of life to find a measure of persistence, stability or viabilty, unless these organisational patterns are carefully reproduced by a series of guided, biochemical events.

Therefore, the reproduction of a specific system of living organisation depends on the careful duplication of such a sequential key, or genetic code, as well as on the careful "unfolding" of these instructions in a protected environment; with sufficient energy and building-blocks to complete the whole reproductive program.

However, the emergence of such a code and its subsequent modification from generation to generation, as circumstances start to change, is in itself not guided, and, we may, therefore, visualise the origins of the genetic code to have evolved, slowly, by random processes within this vast primordial, protoplasmic experiment. These mechanisms are, in essence, the same forces as those of natural selection. Just as the genetic code keeps changing, slowly, as a result of natural selection, (when only a part of each successive generation survives and serves as the foundation for the next generation), so are the minimum cellular requirements for a sequential organisation of biochemical reaction-patterns the result of a long series of evolutionary pressures upon the complexes of stable polymers.

We have disccused, before, that the fate of stable polymers is intricately linked with their usefulness in the vast, branching energy-rivulets that dissipate captured solar energy. It is useful to remind ourselves of the imagery we have developed on previous occasions, where we saw, how such energy-rivulets also provide the opportunity for numerous "branching points". There, the processes of the dissipating energy-flow can "do work", building-up all sorts of useful substances such as carbo-hydrates, lipids or fatty substances, as well as a large variety of proteins. As a result, viability criteria start to act upon a larger and larger complex of inter-dependencies. Eventually, only those rivulets of dissipation survive, which can cope with the temporary interruptions of energy-supply occurring during periods of darkness, or, when the available energy-supply is scarce because of competing systems.

Slowly, as time went by in these primordial epochs of the evolution of life, the congenial circumstances under which the essential biochemical sequences and inter-dependencies found a possibility to exist, started to fade. As a result, the strains and stresses on the viability of these inter-dependencies began to rise. Probably, only a minute fraction of the many inter-dependent systems that arose, survived these early evolutionary pressures, and, perhaps, of the many millions of variants which had found a measure of viability and reproduceability, only a handful survived and gave their biochemical organisation patterns to the fundamental blue-print of organisation upon which all existing life-forms are based.

As the situation and circumstances of existence became more difficult, further refinements in the biochemical organisation of the protoplasm made it a more efficient and adaptable piece of "biological machinery", and, undoubtedly, this protoplasmic unit also required, and developed, slowly, this remarkable semi-permeable membrane with its many functions and specialised capabilities, which shields every living cell from its difficult, hostile and greatly altered external environment.

It seems safe to conclude, that the make-up of the protoplasmic primordium resembled the interior composition or protoplasm of the living cells of today, and, we see in the contemporary seas, as well as the interstitial environment of the cells within a multi-cellular organisms, how far the environmental changes have come, and, what kind of differences in ionic and molecular concentrations the cell had to cope with, before it could survive present conditions of existence, in and out of its watery environment of origin.

The fact, that, throughout the realm of life, the metabolic processes in use by all sorts of cells, are so remarkably similar, is one of the most compelling arguments in favour of the view, that there were, probably, only a handful of cellular survivals of this vast, pre-cellular period of biochemical evolution. Life almost did not make it at all, but, then, evolution only takes place, when there is a severe challenge to the survival of a particular form of living existence. We have discussed, on several occasions, that an evolutionary "break-through" is defined by this final, successful adaptation to a period of severe, chronic stress, where the survival of an entire species remained precariously balanced for a prolonged period of time; when generations upon generations were decimated by the savage and harsh circumstances of existence.

It is time to leave the world of cellular and pre-celluar evolution, otherwise, we will have no time to discuss principles of the living organisation within the realm of multi-cellular life. However, we have to discuss, briefly, the observation, that the single cell fore-shadows already in its functions, many, if not all the dramatic specialisations of cellular structure and function, which play such an important role in the evolution of the multi-cellular organisms. For example, the property of irritability and conductivity is already present in the protoplasm of the single cell, and, this is the reason, why it can find such an elaborate development and evolution in the central and peripheral nervous systems of the complex multi-cellular organisms.

Similarly, the ability to contract and move is already present in the protoplasm of the single cell. Look at the example of the guided movements of the chromosomes, as they pull-apart in the process of cellular division, but, we see, also, that, many, still existing, uni-cellular species' have developed elaborate propulsive mechanisms, such as oar-like appendages, or "flagellae", which depend for their motion on the contractile properties of certain proteins in the cellular protoplasm. The protoplasm is divided into specialised areas, where the functions of photo-synthesis, phagocytosis, respiration, as well as the manufacture of certain substances, such as proteins, fatty materials or carbo-hydrates, are taking place.

Even, in the single cell, we see, that an area of the membrane engulfes a digestible particle, or extrudes a pocket of waste-products. Therefore, all the major organ-functions of the multi-cellular organisms are fore-shadowed in the diverse functions that are present in the cellular protoplasm and its surrounding membrane, and, even, the skeletal, the muscular and the neural systems are fore-shadowed by those areas of the protoplasm, designed to provide rigidity, contractility and irritability. (Irritability is the ability to sense a stimulus and propagate the reception of this stimulus to, e.g., an area of contractile proteins, so that the uni-cellular organism can move away from, or towards, a stimulus, depending on its significance for the cell.)

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Chapter 8

Content

A look at the mechanisms of photo-synthesis.
The phenomena of symbiosis, parasitism and predation.
Multi-cellular existence.
Is the entire concept of pre-cellular evolution wrong?
Is it possible, that a living cell became "implanted" from the outside?
Hierarchical and predatory relationships.
Images that shift constantly from one level of observation to another.
The resurgence of competitive behaviour with the emergence a new level of socially integrated existence.
The evolution of "social units".
The tentative social units of animals and man reveal, that the level of obligatory inter-dependence is not far advanced.
A never-ending search for viability.
A short review of the emergence of the human personality.
The sexual mode of reproduction.
The branching appearance of the "tree" of evolutionary developments.
Evolution takes place from non-specialised species'.
We have only been able to hint summarily at the principles of evolution.
Perhaps, we are already more like a multi-cellular organism than we think.
Developing the insights that are necessary to survive.

How did all these different functions of the living systems develop, and, how did they find an appropriate set of genetic blue-prints for their continued existence? It still remains difficult to visualise a logical progression of events on the ladder of evolution, which was assembled, we assume, by trial and error. Let us just say, that the unimaginable vastness and duration of this period of pre-cellular evolution provided, at the same time, just because of this unimaginable vastness, ample scope for the exploration of all these possibilities of existence. Actually, the unimaginable vastness of this natural experiment made it more plausible and logical, that fortuitous sequences of genetic instructions found a possibility to be assembled, at least, once, because, after this one-time assembly, the processes of reproduceability ensured the possibility for such a fortuitous sequence of highly useful instructions to be perpetuated.

When we look at the large variety of single-celled organisms that still exist today, we see an equally large variety of specialisations in function and form, and, we like to emphasise, briefly, the concept, that strong, persistent competitive pressures between similarly shaped and functioning organisms, led, eventually, to the break-through of "predation". In the behavioural mode of predation, a cell becomes so successful in using the products of another cell, that it can, eventually, dispense with the cumbersome mechanisms of photo-synthesis, in favour of the development of musculo-skeletal and neural systems. Here, we see the great schism, or divide, between the realms of plants and animals. By definition, all animal life-forms depend for their survival on the ingestion of organic materials, manufactured by other life-forms. Almost without exceptions, this means, that an animal has to kill other life-forms, be they plants or animals.

Perhaps, there is an occasional example of a simple parasitic animal, which has lost the capability to photo-synthesise its own organic requirements without the need to kill his "host". Such an "animal" may live as a parasite in an obscure corner, e.g., within the intestines of his host, but, if we look at the more complex animal life-forms such as we, ourselves, we see, that we can not avoid killing animal or plant life. Even the vegetarian has to kill in order to survive.

This brings us to an important evolutionary step that is easily visible at the level of multi-cellular existence. We see a large number of inter-dependencies arise. One example, is the dependence of the predator on his prey, or, the parasite on his host, but, we may also see a state of inter-dependence in a more equally beneficial relationship, which is a form of existence called "symbiosis".

Let me remind you, that this symbiotic inter-dependence is nothing more than a repetition of the symbiotic inter-dependencies which developed between large numbers of biochemical substances and reaction-patterns. The entire evolutionary development of the multi-cellular organism, plants as well as animals, depends on a symbiotic form of inter-dependence, where a group of cells, living closely together, find a greater degree of viability in a process of specialisation in function and structure. This mode of existence is characterised by mutual dependencies rather than competitive strife. The origins of such a development of symbiotic inter-dependence have been lost in this nebulous past, but, we assume, that, tentative colonies of cells, clinging together in a simple "pooling" of functions, have been the precursors of the more complex, differentiated and tightly organised multi-cellular organisms we still see in existence today.

We always see in the history of natural evolution, that the simpler structures survive, together with the more complex ones. We still see sponges and slime-molds as examples of such an early development of symbiotic colonies of cells, and, still, numerous uni-cellular species' exist, in the seas as well as on land.

However, the last remnants of the pre-cellular protoplasmic pools have disappeared, forever, and, we still have not found conclusive evidence that they actually existed. Perhaps, we will never find a conclusive piece of evidence for the existence of these protoplasmic primordial pools, which feature, so prominently, in our speculations about the origins of pre-cellular life. Does this mean, that the whole concept of a pre-cellular evolution is wrong, and, could it be possible, that a living cell became "implanted" in a suitable environment, from the outside, just as a bacillus or fungus may land on a suitable medium where it starts to grow?

Possibly, but the environment of space is so hostile, that we would have to postulate, then, the deliberate or accidental inoculation or implantation of a principle of living organisation by a group of intelligent space-travellers. However, we have no evidence for this, but, the notion, that, in one way or another, a piece of genetic material, perhaps, even, an entire cellular unit, has come from "the outside", and found a possibility to exist in the primordial conditions of early terrestial existence, can not be categorically denied. However, this possibility is not likely, and, it seems more plausible, at least, for the time being, to visualise the successful emergence of a genetic coding-sequence as the result of millions of years of evolutionary trial and error.

Let us go back to the principles of evolution, as we interpret the phenomena of life, today. The cellular unit is a large conglomerate of inter-dependencies, (many of them symbiotic), indicating, that compounds exist in a state of near equality and are equally dependent upon each other, but, we should not forget, that the living organisations make also use of the hierarchical order, where a dominant force subdues a weaker one, and imposes "its will". We see outright predatory dependencies as well, where a predator because of its ability to use force, can "confiscate" the fruits of someone else's labour, but, such a predator becomes then quickly dependent upon the aquisition of a prey, because it has lost the ability to synthesise the required materials itself.

We have seen such hierarchical and predatory relationships within animal communities, as well as between animals and plants. This points out, that, the apparent harmony of integrated and cooperating members of a unit, may be easily disturbed, if, e.g. the hierarchical tensions of dominance are insufficient to keep a weaker member in line, or, if the degree of frustration and exploitation reaches such levels, that the exploited party has nothing to lose and is going to risk an all-out conflict.

The reader will notice, that the imagery shifts, now, constantly from one level of observation to the next; one moment we are referring to the metabolic symbiosis of biochemical reactions; a moment later, we are shifting to the varied worlds of multi-cellular communities, or, we refer to the social units of animals and man. This brings us to another important observation and principle of operation for the living organisation. Competitive existence may, eventually, be replaced, successfully, by a symbiotic harmony, as we see within the cell, as well as in the cellular communities of the multi-cellular organisms. However, the "new unit", or, rather, the next step on the ladder of social integration, behaves, once again, competitively, unless, slowly, a new social order developes, with a mode of cooperative behaviour as an adaptation to ever increasing or severely persistent pressures upon the viability of the new individual units.

We have seen, that the only biochemical reactions still alive or around, are those, which were preserved in the living protoplasm. These biochemical reaction-patterns found a continued existence in a living cell, and, similarly, cells that have entered the route of mutual inter-dependence and specialisation as organ-systems in the multi-cellular units, have lost the ability to exist independently, apart from a living, intact, multi-celular organism.

Certainly, there are a few exceptions. It is now possible to keep such tissue cells artificially alive in a "culture", which is a dish with appropriate nutrients, and, the most primitive multi-cellular organisms, such as the slime-mold, may still show a phase, where the cells that comprise the "body" of such an organism, can exist independently from each other. However, by and large, the "social units" of the cell and the multi-cellular organisms have developed to such a specialised state, that their individual members can not exist, except as part of such a living entity.

However, if we look at the tentative social units of animals and man, we see, that this trend of obligatory inter-dependence is not nearly as far advanced. Often, the members can exist or survive quite well, when the social unit breaks-down, but, the more successful and important socialisation becomes, the more vulnerable such an individual becomes to the disintegration of this social unit.

It is clear, that such integrating trends are the result of a never-ending search for viability, and, we have seen, before, how this applies to the human species as well. It is much easier to survive in small groups, where the members can divide the necessary chores and cooperate in the accomplishment of the more difficult tasks. However, the socialisation of man has to overcome strong combative and, even, ferocious instincts, which are themselves a product of natural selection, and, we have seen, how man is the product of contrasting, or, even, contradictory trends, which have been accentuated by the force-fields of nature.

Being cooperative and helpful to the members of the small social grouping, had, obviously, a beneficial effect on the viability of the group as a whole, but, the frequent and severe pressures from the hostile environment, the increasing dependence on the killing of large game, and, later, the increasing competition between groups of human beings, living ever closer together, fostered such characteristics as a ferocious, fearless attitude towards dangers and intruders. Yet, such a ferocious and belligerent temperament always threatened the unit of the small grouping as well, as jealousy or competitive instincts could win-out over the instincts of cooperation, especially, when the external threats had lessened somewhat.

In the early stages of socialisation, there were enough small groupings for the forces of natural selection to select, and favour, clearly, those groups and leaderships, which had the ability to suppress their hostile instincts towards each other, and would lead the small community fearlessly in a fight for its survival. This is the reason, why man has such a contradictory biological heritage, which has prepared him, to some extent, to live peacefully in small communities. However, the pressures of an increased population density, as well as the relative scarcity of material resources, (in particular, before the time of advanced technical mastery), was the reason for a fierce competitive strife between groupings, and, this state of chronic combat required the rapid development of human socialisation into units that were much larger than those, which natural selection had prepared us for.

In order to survive this severe test, man had to explore the possibilities given by the abilities of conscious symbolic representation and communication, and, this is the reason, why the abilities to read and write, to devise explicit behavioural guidelines and institutions of judgement and administration developed, as soon as man had settled-down in those markedly enlarged social units, which were emerging at the beginning of recorded history. This, in a nutshell, explains the basic reasons for man's instincts of belligerence and his social capabilities.

We have touched, here, upon another important principle of evolution. As soon as a process of "socialisation" sets-in, the criteria of natural selection and survival shift from the individual to the group as a whole. In the case of man, however, the number of social experiments with the larger social units is so limited, and, the factors determining success or failure are so complex, that natural selection does not operate, anymore, at the level of the genetic code, when deciding, which civilisations or large social groupings are successful, and, which will decay.

How does the genetic code "evolve" under these constantly changing pressures and criteria for survival, and, what parallels can we see between the functions of the genetic code and those of the far more adaptable, but, also, more vulnerable cultural code?

This last question has been dealt with extensively on several occasions, and we will not repeat the arguments here. Let us review, briefly, what the role is of the genetic code in the larger multi-cellular organisms, and, we will, at the same time, discuss some relevant features of genetic transmission for the species of mankind.

The sexual mode of reproduction, which is already fore-shadowed at the level of the single cellular organism by its tendency to exchange "genetic materials" with members of its own group, introduces the necessary genetic variability in the population or generation of a species, and, if natural selection favours, continuously, a certain part of this spectrum of variability, eventually, those genetic instructions that enhance overall viability, will dominate in frequency of appearance. This spectrum of variability, made possible by the sexual mode of reproduction, (as accomplished by the specific mechanisms taking place during "meiosis" or the generation of the sex-cells), is sufficiently large to include many more or less dormant capabilities, which can become accentuated later in the evolutionary history of a species or its descendents. However, if a species has become "highly specialised" and adapted to a specific ecological niche, it loses a considerable degree of this range of flexibility, and, this is the reason, why an evolutionary development into a radically different direction is not possible anymore, after such a species has become fully specialised.

New trends and new adaptative approaches take place in species' that are not so specialised, and, this gives the characteristic "branching" appearance to the evolution of life-forms, where, many, if not most, highly specialised adaptations come from those species', which retained a large spectrum of variability in their genetic make-up. We see, here, a strong and interesting parallel with the human being. The human being is born with many potentials, but, as some of these potentials are developed, many others wither-away. Not only, is it physically impossible to develop more than a fraction of our potentials fully, because each potential requires a great deal of attention, effort and study in order to be developed, but, after a certain period of optimum growth, we all settle into a comfortable routine, and it becomes, then, more difficult to learn something new.

True, our capability to learn something new is never completely exhausted, unless we have become dement, but, it is nevertheless true, that, many areas of specialised skill and employment are closed to us, and remain closed, if we have not gained access to them by the time we have reached our maximum maturity in middle age.

We have only been able to hint, summarily, on the principles of evolution, but, throughout these writings, the same subjects and concerns emerge, time and again. We have compared, on many occasions, the differences and similarities between the cultural and genetic codes of the human species. We have become more dependent upon our social organisations, and, in particular, we have become dependent upon this complex cultural code of knowledge, ideas and conceptual communications, including the ability to find, somewhere, the information we need to survive.

If mankind would be stripped, suddenly, from its cultural code, including, not only, such cultural traits as art treasures and folklore, but, also, the know-how to grow our food and get the necessary resources, then, I am conviced, the human species would quickly become extinct, even, if it would theoretically be possible to start again, from scratch.

Perhaps, we are already more like a multi-cellular organism than we think. Perhaps, we can still survive the catastrophe of large-scale destruction and loss of life, but, there is a curious, indefinable point, where this entire structure of abilities, knowledge and insights begins to collapse, and, such a collapse would be fatal, especially, now, when we need, ever more clearly, our know-how and our technical tools to survive in a world that is bcoming ever more difficult to live in.

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Summary

1. A brief summary of our concepts about the Universe.
   "Shifting gears", by using summarising concepts.
   The "flow of events", and the concept of a "possibility to exist".
   There are three aspects to every event; subject-matter, the driving force, and the "environment".
   A look at the flow of water; viscosity and pressure-gradients.
   The phenomena of "boiling water".
   The mechanisms of a "flame".
   The initial threshold, or "barrier", to the combustion of wood.
   Chemical potentials.
   The "docking facilities" of an "enzyme".
   Electro-static and -magnetic force-fields.
   The kinetic energy of an inertial system; the pendulum.
   Events taking place in the atmosphere.
   
   
   
2. Electro-magnetic radiation is present throughout the Universe, even, in "empty space".
   "Heat" represents a part of the electro-magnetic spectrum.
   A review of early terrestial conditions.
   The internal resistance to change by a crystalline lattice.
   The slipperiness of water.
   Cascading chemical reaction-patterns; a comparison with the water-fall.
   There is no complete internal resistance of solid matter to external force-fields; the "flow" of a glacier.
   Concentration-gradients; a few drops of ink in a glass of water.
   The progression towards a state of homogenous dispersion; the concept of entropy.
   Temperature differences have a tendency to equalise.
   The ability of a hot gas to "do work"; the steam or internal combustion engine.
   Thermo-dynamic mechanisms, and the concept of entropy.
   Electrical potentials, chemical potentials, ions, and the electrical battery.
   The trend towards heterogeneity; diversification or "individualisation".
   Are these mechanisms specific for the living organisation?
   
   
   
3. Discontinuities and sudden transformations.
   Examples, where the trend towards homogeneity, or random dispersion, is reversed in non-living processes.
   Another look at the flow of water, and the emergence of energy-dissipating rivulets.
   Events are always linked in nearly never-ending sequences, resulting from the circumstances as they happen to be.
   Environmental circumstances are themselves products of complex sequences of events.
   The mechanisms of energy-dissipation favour the larger channels because of their lower resistence to a flow of energy.
   Non-living events are guided, but not "deliberately sequenced" through the functions of a "code"
   Examples of meteorological mechanisms.
   Non-living structures are never "built" under the influence of a genetic code or guiding principle.
   Specific differences between living and non-living organisations.
   Self-evident or surprising?
   The evolution of the genetic code represents a non-guided series of events, while the reproduction of a living member of a species represents a strictly controled and deliberately linked sequence of events.
   
   
   
4. Mechanisms of the genetic code.
   The concept of actualisation, or "unfolding".
   The unfolding of a pre-existing "plan", or the unfolding of events according to existing circumstances.
   The evolution of the scientific reality perception; natural laws, or static principles of operation.
   Events taking place on a galactic scale.
   Do natural laws pre-determine, what is going to happen?
   The concept of "accidental events".
   A discussion of the concept of a "natural law".
   Explaining natural events taking place at different levels of observation.
   Natural laws that are operative in one field of vision have a tendency to disappear in another.
   
   
   
5. The inevitability of an event.
   Macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic levels of observation.
   Difficulties with the quantitative approach when describing the phenomena of life.
   A fresh approach to the observation and description of the living organisation.
   Describing facts and events in the light of existing reality perceptions.
   Reasons, why the living organisation remains a "closed book".
   An overwhelming variety of life-forms.
   A remarkably coherent image of the living organisation.
   Difficult classifications.
   The art of preserving tissues for close examination after death.
   A macroscopic "alphabet" of anatomical and physiological features.
   The fruits of comparative anatomy.
   Detailed knowledge of the living organisation is a recent fruit of scientific observations.
   Chemistry and biochemistry have added another dimension to the understanding of the living organisation.
   
   
   
6. A review of the scientific specialties that are revelant for the study of the living organisation.
   Challenges to the Christian reality perception.
   Very likely, we will never have a complete picture of evolutionary changes that took place on the early earth.
   An important distinction between an evolved and a created reality.
   Mechanisms of evolution are at work within the time-scale of human observations.
   An ambitious agenda.
   Not all promises have been fulfilled in the remaining pages of this essay.
   Referring the reader to the numerous essays that have been devoted to the topics mentioned.
   A review of pre-cellular evolutionary changes.
   The "flow" of biochemical events, and their similarity to the mechanisms of a water-fall.
   The phenomena of growth and differentiation are a natural result of the dissipation of an energy-gradient.
   
   
   
7. A luke-warm sea of complex polymers.
   Discrete biochemical reactions take place with the help of "guiding substances" with docking facilities; enzymes.
   Biochemical chain-reactions are dissipating a solar energy-gradient.
   The emergence of larger and more complex rivulets for the mechanisms of biochemical energy dissipation.
   The phenomenon of competitive existence.
   Behavioural features of inorganic elements and organic complexes are being kept available and sheltered within the living organisation of protoplasmic matter.
   A discussion of enzymes and their docking facilities.
   The emergence of a stable, non-participating polymer, a "docking booth" for a polymerising substance.
   The emergence of the capability of reproduction.
   Extrapolations of mechanisms taking place in contemporary cells.
   Messengers from the genetic code.
   The random juxta-position of inorganic molecules in nature is insufficiently frequent to reproduce the functional capabilities of a radio, or any other electronic instrument.
   Branching-points in the rivulets of energy-dissipation; the build-up of complex substances, carbo-hydrates, lipids and proteins.
   A fading possibility of existence; rising strains and stresses on the viability of protoplasmic inter-dependencies.
   The protoplasmic constituents of contemporary cells reflect the conditions of existence at the time life originated, while the seas of today reflect, to some extent, the interstitial fluid of multi-cellular oganisms.
   Life almost did not make it; only a handful of biochemical chain-reactions survived the test of time.
   Leaving the world of cellular and pre-cellular evolution.
   The numerous specialisations of function seen in multi-cellular organisms are fore-shadowed in the capabilities of the single cell.
   
   
   
8. A look at the mechanisms of photo-synthesis.
   The phenomena of symbiosis, parasitism and predation.
   Multi-cellular existence.
   Is the entire concept of pre-cellular evolution wrong?
   Is it possible, that a living cell became "implanted" from the outside?
   Hierarchical and predatory relationships.
   Images that shift constantly from one level of observation to another.
   The resurgence of competitive behaviour with the emergence a new level of socially integrated existence.
   The evolution of "social units".
   The tentative social units of animals and man reveal, that the level of obligatory inter-dependence is not far advanced.
   A never-ending search for viability.
   A short review of the emergence of the human personality.
   The sexual mode of reproduction.
   The branching appearance of the "tree" of evolutionary developments.
   Evolution takes place from non-specialised species'.
   We have only been able to hint summarily at the principles of evolution.
   Perhaps, we are already more like a multi-cellular organism than we think.
   Developing the insights that are necessary to survive.

.......