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“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity

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1. Introduction: Why Self ?................................................... Preface.....................................................................................ix

Chapter 1

Self is the invariant of life; it is the great divide between the living and the

inanimate world.

Overview: Self is a natural system that acts toward auto-preservation and
auto-perpetuation. It is the underlying principle of all living things. Self is the
driving force that, under selective pressure, propels evolution forward. As life
evolves into the future, the metabolic scheme might change, the genetic mech-
anism might be different, but self will remain. The approach from self’s stand-
point opens up multiple perspectives of life, including the observable and the
introspective, the physical and the humanistic, and provides a holistic view of
what life is about.

Life is all about self.
Like the air we breathe in or the gravity we live with, self is with us
constantly but hardly noticeable unless we pause for a moment from our
busy lives and assume a slightly different vantage point.
In everyday language self refers to our own body or our private expe-
rience, but in this book I talk about self in a much broader sense. I use it
to include all forms of life, from the barely living (first life on Earth) to
complex plants and animals, including the product of the brain –mind.
Living things, big and small, are self-centered. You chase them, and they
scurry away; try to kill them, and they run for their lives; when hungry,
they look for food, often gobbling up other living things; once fed, they
crave sex; after procreation, they guard their young with their lives. Even
the most altruistic acts in the biological world, martyrdom included, have