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Moving “Far from Equilibrium” in a Prebiotic Environment: The Role of Maxwell’s Demon in Life Origin

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Genesis - In The Beginning

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 22))

Abstract

Can we falsify the following null hypothesis?

A kinetic energy potential cannot be generated by Maxwell’s Demon from an ideal gas equilibrium without purposeful choices of when to open and close the partition’s trap door.

If we can falsify this null hypothesis with an observable naturalistic mechanism, we have moved a long way toward modeling the spontaneous molecular evolution of life. Falsification is essential to discount teleology. But life requires a particular version of “far from equilibrium” that explains formal organization, not just physicodynamic self-ordering as seen in Prigogine’s dissipative structures. Life is controlled and regulated, not just constrained. Life follows arbitrary rules of behavior, not just invariant physical laws. To explain life’s origin and regulation naturalistically, we must first explain the more fundamental question, “How can hotter, faster-moving, ideal gas molecules be dichotomized from cooler, slower-moving, ideal gas molecules without the Demon’s choice contingency operating the trap door?”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of ProtoBioCybernetics/ProtoBioSemiotics, The Gene Emergence Project, The Origin-of-Life Science Foundation, Inc., 113-120 Hedgewood Dr., Greenbelt, MD, 20770-1610, USA

    David L. Abel

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  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Abel, D.L. (2012). Moving “Far from Equilibrium” in a Prebiotic Environment: The Role of Maxwell’s Demon in Life Origin. In: Seckbach, J. (eds) Genesis - In The Beginning. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2941-4_13

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