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Nonphysical.org
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True or False? Testing the Cornerstones of Modern Biology What is the Truth? Science Textbooks Tell Us:
The Issues
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Dedicated to a Revolution in Biological Theory
Life "Emerges" from Molecular Motion Solely Organized by the Known Forces of Physics. True or False? Why the Nobel Prize Physicist, Erwin Schrödinger, Said False! Frequently, biologists assert that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that life is the action of God or other mysterious organizing force. Others argue that the issue is a matter of personal belief, cannot be proven, and has no conceptual value. Often, biology textbooks provide the impression that there is no disagreement within the scientific community on this fact and the material basis of life and the mind. Yet, this view distorts the facts. It ignores the voices of scientific greats such as the Nobel Prize Winners Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Neils Bohr, and Sir John Eccles, who concluded that life is an organizing force distinct from the known forces of physics. In the famous thesis, What is Life?, that the Encyclopedia Britannica identified as one of the three most important books written on the biological sciences (1) the Nobel Prize physicist, Erwin Schrödinger concisely explained why existing scientific theory cannot explain life's astronomically intricate molecular organization. To begin, Schrödinger noted that the rigidly organized motion of life's molecules bears no resemblance to the behavior of molecules in the nonliving world. In the nonliving world, molecular interactions move towards disorder and a state of "timelessness." Molecules interact like so many clusters of tiny magnetic spheres bouncing against each other. As one might expect from the behavior of clusters of magnetic balls buffeted about by random motion, in the nonliving world molecular interactions follow statistical distributions and move to the most probable states. In the absence of an organizing force, currents of molecular motion become disorganized. Complex molecules floating in water tend to break up into simpler, more stable associations of atoms. All reactions are reversible. Left to themselves, a collection of molecules ceases to change. The system comes to equilibrium in a state of "timelessness." Yet, for two billion years, life has sustained and grown its rigidly organized chronology of molecular motion. Life continually moves away from equilibrium and the "timelessness" of the nonliving world. Life's fantastic, organized motion of atoms and molecules never stops. Upon entering the membrane of a cell, the little molecules loose all their natural unruliness. They suddenly join the highly organized choreographed dance of life. In a cell, atoms and molecules are relentlessly driven to assemble into the ever increasing complexity of metabolic machines composed of tens of thousands of atoms, great blankets of cell membranes, huge chromosomal strands composed of tens of millions of atoms, and so on. In the growth of an organism, an egg cell's vast assembly of molecular motions expands into a fantastic chronology of intricate, organized motions of astronomic proportions. Cells pull in the randomly floating molecules of the environment and organize them into fantastic structures. A tiny drop of matter grows into a fluid volume of dancing molecules that is trillions of times greater in size! Trillions upon trillions of organized currents of molecular motion differentiate into the precise behaviors of hundreds of trillions of different cells in the body's numerous organs and systems. Finally, the overall dynamic of the body gains the chronology of instinctive behaviors of the creature. Biological textbooks quickly insist that this fantastic order is no mystery. They note that when a cell creates order in itself, the environment becomes more disordered and hence the process is in accord with the laws of thermodynamics. However, this fact ignores the real issue. The fact that a cell takes energy from the environment does nothing to explain what actually directs molecules to sustains their highly organized motion. For example, I consume energy when I work, but this fact does not explain the direction of my motions or the architecture of what I construct. In a similar manner, the cell's consummation of energy neither explains why molecules assemble into the fantastic complexity of living form nor why they sustain their incredibly organized motions. Erwin Schrödinger noted that the cause of this fantastic choreography of life's molecular motion completely confounds the physical chemist's statistical understanding of the molecular realm. Why is the natural randomness of the nonliving world excluded from living matter, Schrödinger demanded? In a cell, molecules do not just ramble about. Why do the millions of molecular reactions in a cell continuously move with "certainty" to construct and operate the body's cells and organs? Biologists point out that much has been discovered since Schrödinger delivered his book in a series of lectures at Trinity College in Dublin in 1944. Many assert that life is so complex, we do not yet know the exact molecular mechanisms which create this order. Textbooks leave the impression that a cell's little molecular machines "spontaneously" operate themselves. However, Schrödinger’s argument has nothing to do with the details of life’s molecular mechanisms. Schrödinger was well aware of the nature of scientific explanation for he devised the equation, the Schrödinger Equation, that is the foundation of the modern chemist's understanding of the molecular realm. Rather, Schrödinger's conclusion addresses the perplexing dynamics of life’s perpetual, ever-growing, chronological organization of molecular motion. Schrödinger admitted his disdain for nonphysical forces. But he knew that the known laws of physics and chemistry cannot explain life. As he concluded, life's mysterious motion simply cannot be explained within the existing scientific framework. Any responsible discussion of the nature of life should begin with Schrödinger's conclusion. Life does not "emerge" from the motion of matter. The dynamics of living matter have no similarity to that of the nonliving world. The evidence is clear. Life is an an unacknowledged force that "organizes" the motion of molecules. This fact should be cornerstone of any discussion on the nature of life. It should be clearly presented in any serious textbook of the biological sciences. If we are ever going to adequately understand the nature of the universe, the unknown must be as clearly explained as that which is known. Although the conclusion might not appeal to Erwin Schrödinger, it is not difficult to trace the cause of life's mysterious molecular organization to a nonphysical dimension of conscious intelligence. The full argument is presented in The Vital Dimension by Carl Gunther. But for example, a single-celled amoeba exhibits the directed motion of the millions of molecules that compose it. And in when one objectively view an amoeba's behaviors, one finds ready evidence that it possesses the qualities of the conscious mind. Its interactions with its environment display perception, choice, intelligence, and memory (2). What causes this behavior? Although many conventional scientists assert life is only a chemical process, none can propose a tangible material mechanism by which the reactive chemical forces of the nonliving world become the proactive forces of life endowed with perception, intelligent choice, and memory. When an existing explanatory framework completely fails to explain what is observed, it is time to look for another.
Notes: (1) The Encyclopedia Britannica, Great Books of the Western World, Volume 56 (The Sciences) identified the following seven books as the most important ever written on the sciences.
(2) Jennings, Herbert. The Behaviors of Lower Organisms.
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