Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

28 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

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

sufficient conditions for organization. Thus, the Belousov–Zhabotinsky

(BZ) reaction is self­organizing because the source of both the energy

(chemical potential energy) and control information (encoded in the

molecular shapes of the reactants and products) are internal to the system.

In contrast, the Rayleigh–Bernard convection (RBC) patterns [542] are

other-organized because the source of the energy maintaining the tem­

perature gradient in the system is external to the system. Many view both

BZ and RBC as examples of self­organizations which may be the result of

conflating self­organization and other­organization [25, p. 17]. Another

example: The flame of a candle is an instance of self­organization, but the

image of the flame of a candle on a computer screen would be an instance

of other­organization, “other” in this case being the computer engineers

and software programmers.

Likewise, I think measurement can be divided into two classes —

“self­measurement” and “other­measurement”, again depending on the

source (or the locus) of the energy and control information necessary and

sufficient for measurement being internal or external, respectively, to the

system under consideration. The von Neumann–Dirac version of quantum

mechanics [61] is an example of other­measurement, since the measuring

device/observer is external to the system being measured, while the

collapse­free version of quantum mechanics advocated by Everett [61, 62]

and his followers may be viewed as an example of “self­measurement”

(also called “internal measurement” by Pattee [63] and Matsuno [64]),

since the measuring device/observer is internal to the system being meas­

ured. In biology, it appears that self­measurements are carried out by

enzymes and ribozymes driven by conformons [65] under the control of

the genetic information encoded in proteins and RNA molecules, respec­

tively. It is known that the ribozyme, tC197, can self­replicate up to

95 nucleotides long [66, 67].

Finally, semiosis (i.e., the physicochemical processes underlying sign

production, transmission, and interpretation) may be divided into two

classes based on the same criteria, i.e., the source or locus of energy and

control information driving semiosis. Peirce’s phaneroscopy [68] may be

an example of “self­semiosis” or “internal semiosis” and communication

may be viewed as a form of “other­semiosis” or “external semiosis”, since

signs are generated and interpreted inside the semiotic agent in the former,

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