2 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”a subtle self-directed motivation — preservation of the genome or the
clan. What is this self that permeates all strata of life?
In this book I define self as “a naturally occurring system whose
activity leads to the perpetuation of this same system.”Let me make clear
at the outset that my definition of self does not entail consciousness, and
thus the term is applicable to all forms of life, including the simplest.
This definition, however, does not preclude the entry of self into the
conscious realm once life arrives at a certain level of complexity, as in
higher animals.
Despite scientific progress, how life arose on Earth — or anywhere
in the universe — remains largely a mystery. But we do know that life
appeared at a critical moment when an assemblage of molecules started
to move forward against all obstacles to continue its existence. On the
other hand, we cannot predict what life will be like a few billion years
hence — it might use a totally different chemical system for harness-
ing energy and for transmitting information and inheritance. Yet we do
know that, if life will still be present then, self will be there. Self is there-
fore the first feature of life to appear and the last to go.
I define self as a natural phenomenon in order to stress its sponta-
neity, thereby excluding any intelligent design or intervention, human or
otherwise. I define self as a system so as to emphasize the fact that it does
not have to be preconditioned on any specific concrete entity, such as
molecules like proteins or DNA.^1 This is not to mean that life on Earth is
not made of proteins and DNA. Rather, my definition leaves room for the
remote possibility that life in some far corners of the universe, if any, may
not depend on these same molecules. Furthermore, my “systems” defini-
tion emphasizes the importance of interrelationship among parts rather
than the individual parts themselves. This abstract definition of self has a
broad application to many concrete entities of life. At the beginning, when
life barely struggled to exist, self and life might not be that much different.
As time went on, though, life built up in complexity. Nevertheless, just as
the edifice of Euclidian geometry can be reduced to a few simple axioms,
so too the kaleidoscope of the living world can be understood from the