I am conducting personal research into the origins of life from the standpoint of a systems engineer. While life can be seen as a collection of chemical substances and structures, I primarily perceive it as a system.
There are many systems and mechanisms that can be explained solely from specific viewpoints like physics or chemistry. For this reason, physics and chemistry have advanced significantly, and our society utilizes the scientific and technological developments based on them.
On the other hand, when thinking about life and its origins as a system, it becomes evident that it’s challenging to explain the system or mechanism from a single perspective. Of course, life is composed of atoms, and the behavior of atoms shapes the behavior of chemical substances. Thus, ultimately, it might not be impossible to deconstruct life into combinations at the atomic physical level. However, while it might someday be possible to simulate life by assembling from such microscopic principles, doing so doesn’t necessarily mean we truly understand the phenomenon of life. Even if we succeed in simulating life based on microscopic principles, the knowledge we gain might not differ from the knowledge we derive from observing real cells.
If we aim to understand, we have no choice but to construct theories and rationalizations to a level that’s easy for us to grasp. Being an engineer, I value the ability to express principles and mechanisms in a practical manner, which is easier for us to understand, rather than seeking one ultimate theory or law.
From such a perspective, I believe it’s essential to understand the system of life by representing it across multiple scales and various aspects to deepen our understanding.
In this article, I want to demonstrate the necessity of understanding life phenomena from multiple perspectives. I’ll discuss the number of spatial dimensions and the combination of chemical reactions and physical structures to explain why it’s challenging to describe life from a single aspect and why combining multiple perspectives is vital.
What Can’t Be Done in Two-Dimensional Space
In a two-dimensional space, if there’s a linear structure, it acts as a divider in the space. Therefore, with such a structure in place, substances cannot freely move across the line.
Linear structures, being fundamental constructs, can be used to record information and code functions, as seen with DNA and proteins. Similarly, they support life functions like motor proteins moving along fibrous cellular skeletons to transport chemical substances. However, such linear structures can divide a two-dimensional space, hindering the movement of chemical substances.
In contrast, in three-dimensional space, even with numerous linear structures, they usually don’t act as barriers. Thus, while utilizing linear structures, chemical substances can move freely.
To truly partition space in three dimensions, you’d need a structure that encloses an area from all sides, like a cell membrane.
Moreover, just as we can move freely in three-dimensional space despite lines, and even if enclosed by a three-dimensional membrane, in a four-dimensional space, it wouldn’t act as a barrier. For instance, if we draw a circle on a two-dimensional paper, we in three-dimensional space can see inside the circle clearly. Similarly, even with a three-dimensional spherical membrane, in four-dimensional space, one could “see” through it.
This implies that forming barriers in four-dimensional space is challenging. Forming spherical structures might be harder than linear ones, and creating barriers in four-dimensional space would be even more difficult.
From this viewpoint, the most suitable space for life might be neither two-dimensional nor four-dimensional but three-dimensional. The advantage of three dimensions is that linear structures can be used for coding and transporting chemical substances, and spherical structures can act as barriers separating the inside from the outside. Perhaps this is why we were born in this three-dimensional space.
What Can’t Be Done in Chemical Reaction Systems
I have been contemplating the origins of life as a personal research topic. The cells that make up living organisms primarily function through chemical substances and their reactions. However, they don’t just rely on chemical reactions but also exploit physical phenomena.
For instance, the formation of the cellular membrane cannot be achieved by chemical reactions alone. We need to utilize the phenomenon where fatty acids naturally form a spherical membrane in water. Moreover, the fibrous cellular skeleton physically stabilizes the cell, establishing the position of the intracellular organelles and enabling the transport of chemical substances between them.
The membrane protects the internal state from external temperature or pH changes and also prevents external chemicals from directly entering. The cellular skeleton enables stable transport of chemical substances. These physical structures significantly contribute to stable chemical reactions within the cell.
While focusing primarily on chemical reactions, it’s the intricate use of these indispensable physical phenomena and structures that showcases the sophistication of life. When emphasizing the perspective of a system for handling chemical substances and reactions, leveraging these physical phenomena becomes essential.
From the standpoint of a chemical reaction system, employing physical phenomena appears foreign. What couldn’t be surpassed in a two-dimensional space can be easily bypassed in three-dimensional space, almost like magic. Similarly, things unachievable by chemical reactions alone can be accomplished by leveraging physical phenomena, as if creating a bypass in the chemical reaction system.
Utilizing such bypasses can overcome challenges that are hard to achieve solely with chemical substances and changes.
This bypass is analogous to a system call or invoking an external device driver in a computer system. Functions unattainable by application programs alone become feasible through system calls or external device drivers.
Computers have limited abilities when restricted to the internal programming. By using system calls or drivers to interact with external devices, a wider range of functions becomes achievable. It isn’t surprising that life phenomena can’t be realized through chemical reactions alone.
What Can’t Be Done in Cellular Automata
Cellular automata are computer simulations known for self-organizing mechanisms, with the “Game of Life” algorithm being a famous example.
I wondered if, by innovating or scaling up such cellular automata, it might be possible to simulate the birth of life phenomena on a computer.
However, as explained in the previous section, real-life leverages spatial or physical structural bypasses. There might be a need for a system that can exploit structures outside the central processing mechanism in a bypass-like manner.
In cellular automata, this might mean introducing a mechanism that calls a bypass based on the progress of internal cells. Conversely, it suggests that it isn’t necessary to rely entirely on the cellular automata algorithm. Cellular automata produce sets of cells that exhibit various behaviors, but a slight change can disrupt these sets.
It’s challenging to create a membrane-like barrier solely with cellular automata mechanics. However, if we introduce a system call-like mechanism that forms a protective membrane, self-organizing sets of cells might appear that adeptly use this membrane for stabilization.
Similarly, if a system call that generates fibrous structures is introduced, it might be possible to efficiently transport sets of mobile cells or use them for message exchanges.
Additional system calls, like ones that provide temporary storage for cell groups, might also prove useful. This corresponds to life storing energy in sugars or lipids or storing chemicals in vesicles.
In Conclusion
To understand life phenomena, it’s essential to analyze from both the perspectives of chemical substances and reactions, and physical laws and structures, and to view them in combination, as outlined in this article. This entails organizing life phenomena into multiple aspects, understanding the connections between these aspects, and engaging in intellectual work.
This perspective is termed interdisciplinary. Since it involves various disciplines like physics, chemistry, biology, and systems science.
Understanding self-organizing and evolving systems like life, intelligence, and society requires capturing them from multiple aspects and scales. This includes categorizing, analyzing, and understanding from multiple aspects and scales, and then integrating these understandings.
Such a way of thinking closely aligns with system engineering, which organically connects various hardware and software. Thus, delving deeper into these shared concepts has become the approach for my personal research.
