Probability in Living Systems
A special issue of Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 15784
Special Issue Editor
Interests: probability; entropy; information; semiosis; brain; consciousness; adaptation; evolution; fundamental principles of living systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Living systems are characterized by their properties of self-organization and adaptation to their environments. Understanding principles operating in these properties is the central challenge in the science of living systems. We may say that living systems maintain their organization by producing specific internal events non-randomly, and also cope with their environments to enhance the certainty of favorable events for survival and reproduction. In other words, living systems appear to manage the probabilities of events occurring within the systems and in their environments. Here, we can connect this nature of living systems to another big challenge in the wider arena of science and philosophy, i.e., probability, which is a fundamental cross-disciplinary concept in science.
In the study of living systems, probability has received less attention than and has not been explored as effectively as information and entropy, which are also important cross-disciplinary concepts in science. However, both information and entropy can only be measured in terms of probability. Probabilistic events have been deeply explored using the mathematical theory of probability since Kolmogorov’s axiomatization, which provided mathematical consistency for the theory. However, many issues occur when the mathematical theory is applied to problems in real systems. This is because of the dual meaning of probability. Probability of an event includes mainly two interpretations: the epistemic or subjective interpretation (i.e., a degree of the certainty of the occurrence of the event for a subject); and the ontic or objective one (i.e., a proportion of the occurrence of the event in a population of events, or a system propensity or tendency to produce the event). This duality in interpretation may in turn produce the dual meaning of entropy (uncertainty/disorder) and the amount of information (reduction of uncertainty/reduction of disorder). This aspect suggests that the investigation of probability can be situated in the wider arena of research including information and entropy.
Furthermore, living systems are material systems that observe their environments. In other words, they are players within a larger system; in this sense, they may be both ontic (objective) and epistemic (subjective) entities, one aspect of which appears depending on the viewpoint. This kind of dual nature has not been explored effectively in relation to the probability concept in science as well as in traditional philosophy.
We call for papers focusing on the interconnection between probability and living systems in order to activate interdisciplinary discussions on this topic at an interface between science and philosophy. Authors may focus on a particular level or inter-level of biological hierarchy, including cells, organisms, populations and ecosystems, under a deterministic or indeterministic framework. Possible approaches may include, but are not limited to, those from quantum biology, cell biology, brain science (e.g., Bayesian brain), behavioral biology, biosemiotics, ecology, and evolutionary biology (e.g., propensity interpretation of fitness). The issue also welcomes papers based on a general, theoretical (conceptual or mathematical) models, and those based on traditional philosophy.
Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Nakajima
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- probability
- living systems
- information
- entropy
- adaptation
- Bayesian brain
- fitness
- evolution
- uncertainty
- organization