We describe the initial realization of behavior in the biosphere, which we term behavioral chemistry. If molecules are complex enough to attain a stochastic element to their structural conformation in such as a way as to radically affect their function in a biological (evolvable) setting, then they have the capacity to behave. This circumstance is described here as behavioral chemistry, unique in its definition from the colloquial chemical behavior. This transition between chemical behavior and behavioral chemistry need be explicit when discussing the root cause of behavior, which itself lies squarely at the origins of life and is the foundation of choice. RNA polymers of sufficient length meet the criteria for behavioral chemistry and therefore are capable of making a choice. Full article

In this analysis natural systems are posed to subsystemize in a manner facilitating both structured information/energy sharing and an entropy maximization process projecting a three-dimensional, spatial, outcome. Numerical simulations were first carried out to determine whether n × n input-output matrices could, once entropy-maximized, project a three-dimensional Euclidean metric. Only 4 × 4 matrices could; a small proportion passed the test. Larger proportions passed when grouped random patterns on and within two- and three-dimensional forms were tested. Topographical patterns within 31 stream basin systems in the state of Kentucky, USA, were then similarly investigated, anticipating that the spatial configuration of elevations within each basin would provide evidence of evolutionary control when interpreted as internal group relations. Twenty-eight of thirty-one of the systems pass the test unambiguously, with the remaining three approaching or reaching passage when sampling density is increased. Two measures of subsystem-level redundancies are also introduced; these show: (1) surprisingly, minimized internal redundancy levels at the four subsystems level of analysis of the stream systems (as opposed to the five or six, in contrast with the simulations), and (2) much lower average levels than those obtained in the simulations at the same dimensions, both suggesting a preferred evolutionary path under real world conditions. Full article