?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Towards+a+Model+of+Life+and+Cognition&rft.creator=G.%2C+Nagarjuna&rft.subject=Animal+Cognition&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Science&rft.subject=Theoretical+Biology&rft.subject=Metaphysics&rft.description=This+essay+argues+for+an+alternative+scientific+foundation+for+accounting+complex+phenomena+like+life%2C+cognition+and+evolution.+The+approach+taken+to+the+problem+is+neither+reductionism%2C+not+emergentism+(holism)%2C+but+a+third+alternative+called++assimilationism.++The+analysis+based+on+the+alternative+foundation+++indicated+some+counter+intuitive+implications+like%3A+chemical+++reactions+can+happen+independent+of+heat+under+idealized+++conditions%3B+all+systems%2C+including+non-living%2C+counteract+++perturbations+to+exist%3B+non-living+systems+are+more+open+than+the+++living.%0A%0A+++Outline%3A+There+are+abundant+building+blocks+that+are+systems+but+++not+atoms%2C+which+perturb+each+other.++The+building+blocks+are+++heterogenous+(have+different+functional+interfaces).+There+are+++mainly+two+kinds+interactions%3A+identity+preserving+(IP)+and+++identity+transforming+(IT)+interactions.+Given+only+IP+interactions+++the+system+would+reach+high+entropy+---+first+tendency.++Given+only+++IT+interactions+the+system+would+reach+a+crystalline+state+---+++second+tendency.++The+actual+world+is+a+function+of+these+two+++tendencies.++All+beings+(living+as+well+as+non-living)+are+open%2C+++and+their+adaptation+in+an+environment+is+an+expression+of+their+++invertibility+of+the+two+tendencies.++Living+beings+are+part+of+a+++special+dialogically+invertible+space+made+by+amphipathic+agents+++like+water+molecules+on+the+one+hand+and+agents+with+multiple+++interfaces+like+biomolecules+with+possibilities+of+interacting+++among+their+own+functional+interfaces+on+the+other.+This+space+++makes+possible+for+a+dialogical+opposition+of+the+two+tendencies%3A+++distribution+and+collection+of+energy.+Thus%2C+living+being+is+++described+to+be+a+neither-nor-state%2C+between+the+two+extremes.+The+++characteristic+of+this+space+is+to+maintain+the+state+by+++replacement%2C+reproduction%2C+recycling+or+feedback.+The+abundance+of+++little+loops+produce+highly+efficient+work+cycles%2C+minimizing+++external+energy+dependence.+A+self-reproducing+network+of+such+++beings+manages+to+engulf+a+process+and+a+counter+process+within+the+++network+of+a+being%2C+to+counteract+the+two+%60deadly'+tendencies.+A+++living+being+is+capable+of+displaying+behavioral+changes+without+++undergoing+change+in+identity.++Thus%2C+living+beings+are+++interpreted+to+be+more+closed+than+non-living%2C+for+they+can+neither+++resist+nor+repair+interactions.+And+this+logic+continues+to+operate+++recursively+to+explain+physiology%2C+epigenesis%2C+evolution%2C+++adaptation%2C+complexity%2C+autonomy+and+cognition.+%0A%0A+++The+initial+cognitive+base+of+a+living+being+is+rooted+in+the+++invertibility+of+the+perturbations+from+the+environment.+It+is+++hypothesized+that+this+repairing+process+itself+becomes+the+++difference%2C+and+the+processes+that+are+induced+in+turn+within+the+++system+generate+a+differentiation+of+difference%2C+which+is+++defined+as+knowledge.+However%2C+this+knowledge+is+implicit%2C+and++++cannot+account+for+conscious+cognition%2C+which+is+explicit.%0A&rft.date=2004-08&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4895%2F1%2Fmodel-life.pdf&rft.identifier=++G.%2C+Nagarjuna++(2004)+Towards+a+Model+of+Life+and+Cognition.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4895%2F