Abstract
In this paper we propose a logical connection between the physical and biological worlds, one resting on a broader understanding of the stability concept. We propose that stability manifests two facets - time and energy, and that stability’s time facet, expressed as persistence, is more general than its energy facet. That insight leads to the logical formulation of the Persistence Principle, which describes the general direction of material change in the universe, and which can be stated most simply as: nature seeks persistent forms. Significantly, the principle is found to express itself in two mathematically distinct ways: in the replicative world through Malthusian exponential growth, and in the ‘regular’ physical/chemical world through Boltzmann’s probabilistic considerations. By encompassing both ‘regular’ and replicative worlds, the principle appears to be able to help reconcile two of the major scientific theories of the 19th century – the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Darwin’s theory of evolution – within a single conceptual framework.
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Acknowledgments
This work is the result of exchanges facilitated through the COST Actions TD1308 Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth and in the Universe (ORIGINS), and CM1304 Emergence and Evolution of Complex Chemical Systems. RP acknowledges support from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche Agence Nationale de la Recherche for the PeptiSystems project (grant ANR-14-CE33-0020).
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Pascal, R., Pross, A. The Logic of Life. Orig Life Evol Biosph 46, 507–513 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11084-016-9494-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11084-016-9494-1
Keywords
- Thermodynamic stability
- Dynamic Kinetic stability
- Second law of thermodynamics
- Darwinian evolution
- Natural selection
- Persistence principle