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Virtual
Ecosystems -- Order
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The subject of order in nature needs to be the
first topic in any discussion about virtual
ecosystems because playing with virtual
ecosystems is really a search for (1) some kind
of pattern or order and (2) the mechanics that
cause that order.
Western science operates on the fundamental
assumption that nature is ordered. The concept
of order has been around since the medieval
times when science adopted the Biblical
worldview that one God created an ordered world.
There is probably no doubt that searching for
order is the main task of the Western scientist.
But, there has been disagreement and change in
how one looks for order and what order really
is.
Until the mid-20th century most science was
performed with the reductionism worldview.
Reductionism is the idea that, by understanding
each basic part of a system or organism, one can
understand the entire system. The reductionist
views life as a chemical engine that, with
persistence, can be deciphered. The reductionist
view of cause and effect suggested that a given
section of the DNA "codes" can be
directly mapped to a given phenotype or physical
characteristic. Mathematician Rudy Rucker
stated: "Your hand is designed according
to certain instructions coded up in your DNA.
The length of these instructions gives a measure
of the amount of information in your hand".
But, by the mid-20th century, science was
beginning to see that what makes life distinct
are the organizing principles by which molecules
are put together in living organisms. A complex
interaction of many factors must exist. For
example, a number of elements must grow and work
together for a giraffe's neck to elongate while
insuring survival. If the giraffe's DNA mutated
to code for a longer neck, his DNA must also be
coded for a strong heart if blood is to get to
his head. Somehow, the different parts of the
animal -- heart, neck, muscles, and artery walls
must all stay in balance as the neck lengthens.
The reductionist explanation of a DNA coded
mutation is important, but insufficient. A
dynamic interrelated system must be working and
growing together.
The distinction between reductionism and a
systematic worldview is common in everyday
experience. A book is not just a collection of
words. What makes a book different from random
babbling is the structure of the words placed
there by the author. A symphony or a rock and
roll piece consists of musical notes. But it is
not just a collection of sound waves. It is
distinguished from noise by musical principles
that order the notes. A house consists of bricks
and boards, but it is not a pile of random
building materials. The difference is the
architectural rules used to organize the
material.
Because complex relationships are difficult for
humans to visualize, mature mathematical models
and the modern computer were needed to compute
and visualize complex system interactions. So, a
revised worldview of order remained hidden until
the 1960s when a new breed of scientists emerged
to model nature as a dynamic system. Instead of
solving impossible equations, they thought about
dynamic systems in terms of their geometry by
drawing pictures.
With the advent of solid state digital and
analog computers, they were able to visualize
order in complexities that were always thought
to be random. From this work, the concept of
complexity in natural systems became clear. They
discovered that very complex dynamics could
result from the simplest systems. Contrary to
earlier worldviews, the non-linear aspects of
nature were shown to be the rule rather than the
exception. With time, probability and chance
were incorporated into these geometric
simulations.
From these ideas, the study of complex systems
exploded. What ultimately became clear is that
the generation of order is an inevitable product
of the interaction of local elements in a
system. Small changes in the rules that govern
local interactions between neighbors can
sometimes cause big changes in the pattern or
order of the entire system. Computer scientists
call these rules algorithms.
An algorithm is a list of the exact steps
necessary to carry out a desired computation, a
list that comes with a guarantee that that the
computation will stop with the correct answer.
The interesting thing about algorithms is that
they require less information and space to
operate than does an equivalent table that lists
all the possible outcomes of a computation. This
compacting of information is a fundamental
aspect of life - for indeed DNA itself is a
template of rules.
Presently, the fields of medicine, economics,
psychology, and biology are using this
systematic concept of order to help understand
complicated processes. To date it has been shown
that nature is not necessarily random. It is
just so complex that it appears random. Very
small changes in the interactions within a
system can lead to chaotic, but not random,
effects over time.
Research in modern biology seems to rest with
two different, but complementary, worldviews.
The reductionist continues to bring new details
about life into our knowledge base. At the same
time, the dynamic concept of order serves to
integrate multidisciplinary knowledge and give
us a peek into the effects of complex
interactions. |
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