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End-Directedness and Context in Nonliving Dissipative Systems

2015; World Scientific; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1142/9789814730617_0009

1793-107X

James A. Dixon, Bruce A. Kay, Tehran J. Davis, Dilip Kondepudi,

Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

Advanced Series on Mathematical PsychologyContextuality from Quantum Physics to Psychology, pp. 185-208 (2016) No AccessChapter 9: End-Directedness and Context in Nonliving Dissipative SystemsJames A. Dixon, Bruce A. Kay, Tehran J. Davis, and Dilip KondepudiJames A. DixonUniversity of Connecticut, USA, Bruce A. KayUniversity of Connecticut, USA, Tehran J. DavisUniversity of Connecticut, USA, and Dilip KondepudiWake Forest University, USAhttps://doi.org/10.1142/9789814730617_0009Cited by:4 PreviousNext AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsRecommend to Library ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Abstract: Biological organisms are distinguished from non-living systems, in part, by their ability to choose and strive towards particular ends. This end-directed behavior is seen across all five biological kingdoms, from single-celled organisms to the most advanced primates. The ubiquitous nature of end-directedness, across such a wide variety of biological entities, suggests that a deeper principle may be at work. We propose that end-directedness, rather than being a special ability of living systems, is actually a fundamental property of a larger class of physical systems, called dissipative structures, which are formed and maintained by the flow of energy and matter. Our work shows that dissipative structures "behave so as to persist", seeking states that increase their rate of entropy production, and thus facilitate their own persistence. In addition, we suggest that biological entities create their exquisite sensitivity to context by interweaving this fundamental end-directedness with the contextual and physical constraints of their environments. The result is a repertoire of complex behavior. We provide an example of such complex behavior emerging from contextual and physical constraints coupled with end-directedness. FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited By 4Collective Dissipative Structures, Force Flow Reciprocity, and the Foundations of Perception–Action MutualityBenjamin De Bari, Dilip K. Kondepudi, Bruce A. Kay and James A. Dixon21 September 2020 | Ecological Psychology, Vol. 32, No. 4Ecological approaches to perceptual learning: learning to perceive and perceiving as learningAgnes Szokolszky, Catherine Read, Zsolt Palatinus and Kinga Palatinus13 June 2019 | Adaptive Behavior, Vol. 27, No. 6What Are Nervous Systems For ?Martin Fultot, P. Adrian Frazier, M. T. Turvey and Claudia Carello11 July 2019 | Ecological Psychology, Vol. 31, No. 3Discovery in complex adaptive systemsMichael J. Spivey1 Oct 2018 | Cognitive Systems Research, Vol. 51 Contextuality from Quantum Physics to PsychologyMetrics History PDF download