Department of Biology, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-8577, Japan.
Biosystems. 2022 Aug;218:104692. doi: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104692. Epub 2022 May 6.
How can a living system escape the solipsistic self-making process? This problem has been ignored in mainstream biology. This study seeks a reasonable mechanism by which a living system produces symbols that signify external states. To this end, the inverse causality model proposed in previous studies was theoretically improved by refining the core concepts. Inverse causality is an epistemic principle operating in a subject system to produce symbols internally, signifying the past states of the external reality hidden to the subject. Inverse causality yields an important theorem for a system to produce symbols for external states. It asserts that if a system changes from state x to y in some instances, and from x to y in others (y ≠ y), then x ⟼ y produces a symbol that signifies one external state, and x ⟼ y produces a different symbol for another state. These symbols are embodied as the states of the system components. The model postulates the equivalence principle in the subject-reality relationship, asserting that inverse causality is equivalent to causality in the external view. Living systems operate with inverse causality using biological devices called measurers, which include membrane receptors, second messengers, and molecular switches in cells, and neurons in multicellular organisms. A measurer is a medium of symbols signifying external states. Biological subsystems functioning as measurers are ubiquitous and essential in contemporary living systems for adaptation to their environments in particular ways by manipulating the symbols they produce. By the inverse causality operation, living systems can reduce the uncertainty of events and manage the probability distribution of future events favorable to survival and reproduction. Due to this function, their measurer systems were sophisticated and diversified in evolution. In philosophy and science, there has been endless debate between determinism and indeterminism. However, surprisingly, contemporary living systems use the inverse causality operation (ICW) to adapt to their environments, which is logically equivalent to the causal principle of determinism.
生命系统如何能逃脱唯我论的自我构建过程？这个问题在主流生物学中被忽视了。本研究旨在寻找一种合理的机制，使生命系统产生代表外部状态的符号。为此，本研究对先前研究中提出的逆因果模型进行了理论改进，细化了核心概念。逆因果关系是一种认识论原则，在主体系统中起作用，从内部产生符号，标志着主体所隐藏的外部现实的过去状态。逆因果关系产生了一个重要的定理，即系统如何为外部状态产生符号。它断言，如果一个系统在某些情况下从状态 x 变为 y，而在其他情况下从 x 变为 y（y ≠ y），那么 x ⟼ y 产生一个符号，表示一个外部状态，而 x ⟼ y 则为另一个状态产生不同的符号。这些符号体现为系统组件的状态。该模型假定主体-现实关系中的等价原则，断言逆因果关系在外部观点中等同于因果关系。生命系统使用称为测量器的生物设备来进行逆因果关系操作，这些设备包括细胞膜受体、第二信使和细胞中的分子开关，以及多细胞生物中的神经元。测量器是表示外部状态的符号的媒介。作为测量器的生物子系统在当代生命系统中无处不在且至关重要，它们通过操纵所产生的符号，以特定的方式适应其环境。通过逆因果关系操作，生命系统可以降低事件的不确定性，并管理有利于生存和繁殖的未来事件的概率分布。由于这个功能，它们的测量器系统在进化中变得复杂多样。在哲学和科学中，决定论和非决定论之间一直存在着无休止的争论。然而，令人惊讶的是，当代生命系统使用逆因果关系操作（ICW）来适应其环境，这在逻辑上等同于决定论的因果原则。
