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On the Biological Origin of Design in Nature

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Origin(s) of Design in Nature

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 23))

Abstract

We consider first the most fundamental “design in nature,” the explanatory structure of the universe on the basis of the natural sciences, and the related problem of teleology in nature. We point out that it is necessary to generalize the presently used explanatory scheme of physics. We derive here the first essentially complete scientific world picture and obtain new insights answering to the problem of cosmic design. Considering some important objections against teleology, we present counterarguments and give a new classification of the main classes of teleology and their quantitative complexity measures. Comparing the new classification of teleology with that of Mayr, we give useful examples and indicate why teleology is useful for natural science. As a result, we outline a general picture of the basic types of design in nature and provide their scientific explanation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In quantum electrodynamics, radioactive decay as well as spontaneous emission and similar processes are elicited by virtual interactions. In that way, class (3) causes become involved into class (1).

  2. 2.

    In the double-slit experiment, Feynman’s ideas mean the particles take paths that go through only one slit or only the other; paths that thread through the first slit, back out through the second slit, and then through the first again; paths that visit the restaurant that serves that great curried shrimp, and then circle Jupiter a few times before heading home; and even paths that go across the universe and back. Feynman’s formulation has proved more useful than the original one (Hawking and Mlodinow, 2010, 45–46).

  3. 3.

    It is easy to observe that the different kinds of explanation of “why did the frog jump into the water?” given by Rose (1997, 10–13, 85–97) missed the target of obtaining a clear and complete picture regarding the nature of causation in nature. At variance of his five types of explanations, all the three causes we indicated here are actual causes, and all of them correspond to a generative principle of reality, which form an essentially complete system of nature.

  4. 4.

    In biochemistry, allosteric regulation is the regulation of an enzyme or other protein by binding an effector molecule at the protein’s allosteric site (i.e., a site other than the protein’s active site).

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4. Acknowledgment

It is a true pleasure for us to thank the inspiring insights and continuous assistance of our friend, Jean Drew, in preparing this work and for lecturing the English of the previous version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Konkoly Observatory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 67, H-1525, Budapest, Hungary

    Attila Grandpierre

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  1. Attila Grandpierre
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Correspondence to Attila Grandpierre .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Longmont, CO, USA

    Liz Swan

  2. Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory, Panacea, FL, USA

    Richard Gordon

  3. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Grandpierre, A. (2012). On the Biological Origin of Design in Nature. In: Swan, L., Gordon, R., Seckbach, J. (eds) Origin(s) of Design in Nature. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4156-0_2

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