Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

258 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

b2861 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter “6x9”

The concept of dissipative structures can be applied to all dynamically

organized (vis-à-vis random) structures whose maintenance requires dis-

sipation of free energy, including action potentials, the cell, the brain, the

human body, human society, cities, and the biosphere. Dissipative struc-

tures are also called “self-organizing chemical reaction-diffusion sys-

tems”, the theoretical models of which are frequently named after a city

(where the related research is done) based on the formula [Name of a city +

ator] (“ator” means a dynamical system). For example, the first “ator” to

appear in the chemistry literature was the Brusselator, a theoretical model

of the BZ reaction proposed by I. Prigogine (1917–2003) and R. Lefever,

in Brussel in 1968. The chemical (in contrast to the theoretical) model of

the BZ reaction is known as the Oregonator, since it was developed in a

university in the State of Oregon (not exactly the name of a city). The

model of the living cell that I proposed in 1983 at the meeting held in, and

sponsored in part by, the City of Bhopal, India, was given the name, the

Bhopalator [16, 17].

6.1.4 The Law of Requisite Variety

The main idea of the Law of Requisite Variety (LRV) is that simple

machines cannot perform complex tasks or that, in order for a machine to

perform a complex task, it is necessary for the machine to possess a com-

plex internal structure.

If we designate the variety (i.e., the number of possibilities) of the

environment of a machine with the symbol VE, and the variety of the inter-

nal states of the machine with VM, then the variety of the outcomes, VO,

resulting from the interactions between the machine and its environment

cannot be less than VE/VM, i.e.,

VO ≥ VE/VM (6.2)

Expression (6.2) indicates that the only way to keep VO constant (i.e.,

homeostatic) under the condition where VE is increasing is to increase VM

to counter the increase in VE.

Expression (6.2) can be applied to individual enzymes treated as

complex molecular machines [25, pp. 154–156].

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