The Complexity Of Life
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2009
- / sciencereason ... Complexity (Chapter 5): The Complexity Of Life
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REDUCTIONISM
For centuries, the standard approach of science has been to understand nature by breaking it down into smaller and smaller pieces. Consider a flower. If we study flowers in their natural environment, their various forms and features that makes us botanists. But in order to really understand how a flower works, how photosynthesis keeps the flower alive and allows it to grow, we have to get inside the flower. We might then study the cells that make up a flower, how the parts of the cell function, and how they are similar to cells of other living organisms. A cell biologist seeks to understand flowers on this level.
But in order to understand how cells function, we need to understand the complex biochemistry of the cells metabolism. And in order to understand how the flowers cells divide and reproduce, we have to understand the operation of DNA. The biochemist and the geneticist, then seek to understand the flower on a deeper level still.
The study of organic molecules and DNA takes us down to the level of basic chemistry. How do atoms and molecules interact and combine with one another? This is the realm of the chemist. And understanding the forces at work inside atoms is the job of the physicist.
Through this approach - breaking down the flower into smaller and smaller parts, and understanding how those parts function we have built up a deep and comprehensive view of the laws of nature, from biology down to chemistry and from chemistry down to physics. But there is a limitation with this approach. Somewhere along the way we lost the flower. In other words: By breaking the flower down into simpler and simpler pieces, weve lost sight of the complexity that makes a flower what it is.
SCIENCE OF COMPLEXITY
Is there a different approach? Is there some better way to understand complex systems; not by examining how their parts function, but by understanding how the parts come together to create something that is - in a sense - more than just the sum of its parts?
Some scientists believe that order and complexity are inevitable. The study of systems as diverse as board games, computer programs, and ant colonies has revealed some remarkable features of complex systems. Rules much simpler than those of physics and chemistry can result in a great deal of complexity.
RULES AND COMPLEXITY
Consider a board game like chess. The game is based on a simple set of rules. Even young children can learn the rules of chess well enough to play. But while the rules of chess are simple, the game is incredibly complex. It has been estimated that the total number of possible chess games is greater than the number of quarks and electrons in the entire cosmos. With only 32 pieces, operating under a simple set of rules, the complexity of the chess universe is astounding.
Where does the complexity of the game of chess come from? Its not the individual moves of the pieces; its the way those pieces affect one another; the way each move depends on the previous turn; the way the possibilities multiply each time a piece is moved.
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I was just running the exact same idea through my head, and your video captured the idea perfectly, sometimes i wish everyone could understand "complexity" like this and not have ti take away from the beauty, music and life of what we know. I hope that one day not too far into the future everyone can accept the idea that we really are all bound together, and not much separates us, we don't need stories to help, care and love each other and we can just be.
It was this kind of thinking that started my spiritual journey. From the sub-microscopic, to the Universe as a whole, so many "systems and laws" are in operation that defy the notion that existence is random. Random elements + time does not = anything. Abiogensis assumes that "time" itself is a force, when it is simply a relative constant. It's like rolling standard gambling dice and expecting that it will finally equal 1,378,089,098,233. It doesn't add up because you get more roles.
It's simple we ARE the universe.
Yep, it's the relationship between the parts more than the parts themselves that defines the whole.
Many thanks for these amazing, educational, and well presented set of videos.
Life didn't form randomly. It was designed to be this complex. Because things that are alive and are made out of cells are on a whole other level of complexity than anything we ever saw in the entire universe. Life didn't form randomly.
great video! felt the nostalgia of watching an old vid!
Thank you for making this knowledge free and available! I also would like to thank TH-cam for allowing education to become a part of the wonderful cosmos of the Internet.
Fantastic thanks
What a fantastic video. I love Project Cassiopeia.
"you can't see the forest for the trees"...
but for me, more importantly, you truly helped me to feel less overwhelmed by the vids i have attempted to view.i am fascinated by the complexity, but i realize that i am probably not stupid for sensing to grasp the entire scope of biology might be a lifelong study.
great vid. am really interested in your videos about atoms and space, also time and it's theories.
at the beginning of the video i was like "what about the ecologist!"
but the chess metaphor at the end summed it up pretty well
great vid! like always, listening to intelligence is great!
"science" is simply a way of looking at things, nothing more; nothing less. but you are correct that it no way is a, "term for monopolies of knowledge". science is simply a quest for knowledge.
I hear you, brother.
Some of the background noise can be distracting, but another great video with lots of informative content.
It was uploaded only recently, the HD function comes along after a while.
another great video - do you guys take donations?
I second that!
cool video
I believe his point was more than the flower itself (the sum of its parts), but rather its interaction with the environment in which it lives - which is the greater ecological aspect of life.
Tha'ts my problem in life lol. So afraid to make mistakes that I don't get anywhere.
I WANT MORE ON COMPLEXITY
This video needs to be at least movie length. Life is incredibly complex and I need to know why.
Do not underestimate the importance of the medium of communication, Mr. Wong. It is the very essence of our understanding of data and each other.
Regarding this origin, you won't find it within evolutionary science. You're talking about Panspermia or Exogenesis.
It's a plausible scenario which I'm not gathering any argument from you to the contrary. Another popular scientific origin scenario is abiogenesis, and there are many scientists who think a supernatural being did it.
So?
If you want to understand complexity and systems that are governed by random processes, statistical mechanics is the way to go! It's the modern thermal-physics. With it we can basically impose conditions that represent macroscopic, viewable behaviors, then describe the system on a microscopic level. (or visa versa). It has weaknesses that force you to do some sloppy approximations, but if you play around with it, you could describe evolution using physics.
@carterfamily8903 ok, this is my final statement on the topic, beneficial mutations? look around you, the variation within kinds that you speak of, is beneficial mutations, skin color, sizes, it's all beneficial for the environment that they lived in. The reason you haven't seen anything become another species is because you only live for about 80 years. This takes thousands to millions. Humanity may have witnessed this as a whole, but nothing seems to have changed in the last 200 years that ...
No HD on this one?
@mpandurov The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
@carterfamily8903 ps, humans will probably not change that much because we can forge our own environments now, but other species that are dependent on the environment, will continue to change as the environment does.
when the flower first starts to open it kinda looks like one of those sandworms from 'dune'
Another example - look at the 'complexity' of the economy - with no single orchestrator controlling every move - each individual makes up a part, but the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Can whoever writes this guy's scripts please omit the letter 'r' in all future monologues?
Otherwise, the clip's awesometown.
@carterfamily8903 ...we came across major scientific discoveries. In the future, our children will see, many millennia from now how we documented the species, they will see the environment change, and with that they will see the change in the species. This will awaken the world. We are all part of a very important time in history.
@MetalSpiral that is Goose not duck
@carterfamily8903 ...they changed. That while one changed a little in one area, the other changed in another way, they progressed and with each generation, they differed even more, the same way human race, like Asian and white and black. So if you take two very closely related cats like the lion and tiger which are very similar and pair them together, they are close enough in genetics to produce offspring, but their offspring cannot reproduce, this means that the genetics messes up a little...
@AcusticDave he'll probably retort by saying in a little girly voice "juuuust cause your blood stops, doesn't mean your deaaaad, you're soouull has to leaaaave your booody."
Someday, there will be a revelation in science that life is an ingredient, and not a by-product.
Go would have been such a perfect example for this concept. I'm guessing they went with chess because most people are much more familiar with it (and that makes sense). But compared to go, chess has a lot of rules.
@carterfamily8903 ... because they are too different. They don't mix as well as they used to. They were the same creature long ago, but now, they are not. That is what a species is, a separate gene pool. The only reason humans have not divided into completely different species is because we were not isolated long enough, we discovered how to cross waters. We were nomads, we went to war with each other and copulated. we mixed our genes, preventing us becoming like cats, we are more like dogs.
King fall down - go boom!
why are the DNA strands left-handed?
anyone interested should look at emerging behaviour
How can such complexity arise from nothing?
It can't. It would be more likely to flip all heads for 1000 years.
@@oasissands8584 So how it it happen?
no, I mean why would they use a left-handed form when the right-handed form is obviously the more common form of DNA
GO has much simpler rules and is much more complex.
@carterfamily8903 "Real mutations, are always harmful, and never good." very untrue, but MOST are harmful. "But either is only capable of producing dog types." until they become something completely different if the environment calls for it. Sharks hardly have changed because they are perfect for the environment, species only change "dramatically" when the environment changes, otherwise, you'll just see small variations. Environment + isolation + reproduction+ time = evolution.
When it comes to complex randomness there is no mathematical basis and science must be backed up by math.
Not sure the philosophy you subscribe to, Mr. Wong. The Earth itself is non-living. It is home to living organisms. These are separate sciences.
Philosophy lends conceptual "meaning" to otherwise meaningless processes. I take it that you differentiate yourself from scientists as a philosopher yourself?
As a sentient species, it is important to understand the sciences and become at peace with nature through philosophy, to lead to further understanding and advancement.
@carterfamily8903 so I guess people with brown eyes and blue eyes, and blond hair and black skin, and different sizes, is just my imagination.
@carterfamily8903 I knew this was coming....There is no such thing as micro or macro, they are indistinguishable from each other. I will give you a perfect example. You are saying that house cats, and lions are not related to each other. They are my friend. I will explain. All the cat families that are here today, came from a common ancestor. The cats spread out to other environments. Through "micro" evolution, they mutated, the environment dictated which mutations would survive. Slowly they...
@carterfamily8903 ever have a computer error or a corrupt file? That's lost data from... man I don't have enough room to explain all this on youtube, if you want, you can shoot me an email. I am really enjoying this, and i'm not trying to fight you, I respect that you believe in god, I just don't think it's wise to make a statement without first fully understanding what you're talking about.
@carterfamily8903 ...I am white, my wife is chinese, I have green eyes, my wife has brown. My wife is pregnant, my son will have brown eyes. If was white and had blue eyes, there would be a good chance my son would have blue or green eyes. Now, if evolution doesn't exist, then Adam had to have all the genetic material of every human being on this planet to account for the variation, but if he had all of it, then so would we, so we would all look the same. So explain to me why my wife is Asian.
The flower itself consists of its smaller parts, the "sum of its parts," but its interaction with the environment in which it developed is the "greater" of that sum.
Your analogy with human society is a poor one when related to a single living organism. Too many factors to discuss.
Your last question is one which application is as diverse as imagination allows.
"Complexity stems from intelligence. The complexity of life, screams that there is an extremely intelligent God who created it all."
Argument from Complexity is a logical fallacy. Rainbows are complex- who creates those? Snowflakes are complex, who creates those?
"Complexity stems from intelligence"
Your god, being able to create everything that exists, must be pretty complex, too! By your logic, his complexity must stem from intelligence. Who/what created god?
And why does there need to be a higher being to comprehend every reason for every why?
Doesn't sound necessary to me.
"Plants (flowers) are organic living tissue of the Earth. " - Say what? That didn't make any sense.
" The presence of brains is necessary for every living thing." - What? No it isn't! The large majority of all organisms have no central nerveous system at all.
"The process that species on the Earth GROW from a simple to more complex forms of lives is the GROWTH (EVOLUTION) of the planet itself." - Nope the earth would get by just fine without life. Evolution is not "growth".
he can't say it ;)
Notice he keeps talking about the "floweh" and "pahts".
so i know this comment i'm replying to is a year old, but i must say, I LOVE THIS QUOTE. thumbs up. =)
Too difficult to understand...
@carterfamily8903 lol! no! Adam had all the genetic material because eve came from his genes. But I congradulate you, I quote you...."People produce a variety of people". That variety is mutation my friend. That mutation, is evolution through natural selection. You just explained evolution my friend, weather it's through gods power or not, you believe in evolution. You're just missing crucial parts.
I think I'm starting to roughly understand what you're saying, though your English delivery may need some work.
If you're defining "the planet" as a developed, interacting ecosystem then I suppose you 'could' define it as "living." We don't want to "kill" the planet with our ignorant actions like pollution and careless waste.
But we don't "belong" to this planet as much as we have evolved and adapted to this planet's conditions. We wouldn't quite fit in anywhere else.
@TheLovesoul1 ..Star dust? Wow......nnnno. Take a break from watching clumsy wipeout videos and read a book.
your comment makes NO sense. please think twice before posting such a comment :)
BABY DUCK
@menolyrics we won't find it because it doesn't exist, lol
@SlippPeace @SlippPeace How did God get here he is very complex? Did he just exist so complex and organized with no purpose or reason? The laws of chemistry drove life and the law of natural selection created the illusion of purpose. The fact that you say something so complex and organize as God can just exist for no reason disproves your first premise before you get out of the gate. Complexity can exist with out a intelligent designer.
I hate to break it to you but you would impress people a lot more if your statements wouldn't be factually incorrect. If you want to impress people who are rational with real sense of wonder I suggest you familiarize yourself with Carl Sagan. Knowledge and a sense of deep awe are not incompatible.
Our life is more complex than we thought.