Chance, Calculation and Life E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 515

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Chance, Calculation and Life brings together 16 original papers from the colloquium of the same name, organized by the International Cultural Center of Cerisy in 2019. From mathematics to the humanities and biology, there are many concepts and questions related to chance. What are the different types of chance? Does chance correspond to a lack of knowledge about the causes of events, or is there a truly intrinsic and irreducible chance? Does chance preside over our decisions? Does it govern evolution? Is it at the origin of life? What part do chance and necessity play in biology? This book answers these fundamental questions by bringing together the clear and richly documented contributions of mathematicians, physicists, biologists and philosophers who make this book an incomparable tool for work and reflection.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Introduction

PART 1: Randomness in all of its Aspects

1 Classical, Quantum and Biological Randomness as Relative Unpredictability

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Randomness in classical dynamics

1.3. Quantum randomness

1.4. Randomness in biology

1.5. Random sequences: a theory invariant approach

1.6. Classical and quantum randomness revisited

1.7. Conclusion and opening: toward a proper biological randomness

1.8. Acknowledgments

1.9. References

2: In The Name of Chance

2.1. The birth of probabilities and games of chance

2.2. A very brief history of probabilities

2.3. Chance? What chance?

2.4. Prospective possibility

2.5. Appendix: Congruent generators, can prospective chance be periodic?

2.6. References

3 Chance in a Few Languages

3.1. Classical Sanskrit

3.2. Persian and Arabic

3.3. Ancient Greek

3.4. Russian

3.5. Latin

3.6. French

3.7. English

3.8. Dice, chance and the symbolic world

3.9. References

4 The Collective Determinism of Quantum Randomness

4.1. True or false chance

4.2. Chance sneaks into uncertainty

4.3. The world of the infinitely small

4.4. A more figurative example

4.5. Einstein’s act of resistance

4.6. Schrödinger’s cat to neutrino oscillations

4.7. Chance versus the anthropic principle

4.8. And luck in life?

4.9. Chance and freedom

5 Wave-Particle Chaos to the Stability of Living

5.1. Introduction

5.2. The chaos of the wave-particle

5.3. The stability of living things

5.4. Conclusion

5.5. Acknowledgments

5.6. References

6 Chance in Cosmology: Random and Turbulent Creation of Multiple Cosmos

6.1. Is quantum cosmology oxymoronic?

6.2. Between two realities – at the entrance and exit – is virtuality

6.3. Who will sing the metamorphoses of this high vacuum?

6.4. Loop lament

6.5. The quantum vacuum exists, Casimir has met it

6.6. The generosity of the quantum vacuum

6.7. Landscapes

6.8. The good works of Inflation

6.9. Sub species aeternitatis

6.10. The smiling vacuum

7 The Chance in Decision: When Neurons Flip a Coin

7.1. A very subjective utility

7.2. A minimum rationality

7.3. There is noise in the choices

7.4. On the volatility of parameters

7.5. When the brain wears rose-tinted glasses

7.6. The neurons that take a vote

7.7. The will to move an index finger

7.8. Free will in debate

7.9. The virtue of chance

7.10. References

8 To Have a Sense of Life: A Poetic Reconnaissance

8.1. References

9 Divine Chance

9.1. Thinking by chance

9.2. Chance, need: why choose?

9.3. When chance is not chance

9.4. When chance comes from elsewhere

10 Chance and the Creative Process

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Chance

10.3. Creation

10.4. Chance in the artistic creative process

10.5. An art of the present moment

10.6. Conclusion

10.7. References

PART 2: Randomness, Biology and Evolution

11 Epigenetics, DNA and Chromatin Dynamics: Where is the Chance and Where is the Necessity?

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Random combinations

11.3. Random alterations

11.4. Beyond the gene

11.5. Epigenetic variation

11.6. Concluding remarks

11.7. Acknowledgments

11.8. References

12 When Acquired Characteristics Become Heritable: The Lesson of Genomes

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Horizontal genetic exchange in prokaryotes

12.3. Two specificities of eukaryotes theoretically oppose horizontal gene transfer

12.4. Criteria for genomic analysis

12.5. Abundance of horizontal transfers in unicellular eukaryotes

12.6. Remarkable horizontal genetic transfers in pluricellular eukaryotes

12.7. Main mechanisms of horizontal genetic transfers

12.8. Introgressions and limits to the concept of species

12.9. Conclusion

12.10. References

13 The Evolutionary Trajectories of Organisms are Not Stochastic

13.1. Evolution and stochasticity: a few metaphors

13.2. The Gouldian metaphor of the “replay” of evolution

13.3. The replay of evolution: what happened

13.4. Evolutionary replay experiments

13.5. Phylogenies versus experiments

13.6. Stochasticity, evolution and extinction

13.7. Conclusion

13.8. References

14 Evolution in the Face of Chance

14.1. Introduction

14.2. Waddington and the concept of canalization

14.3. A stochastic model of Darwinian evolution

14.4. Numerical results

14.5. Discussion

14.6. Acknowledgments

15 Chance, Contingency and the Origins of Life: Some Historical Issues

15.1. Acknowledgments

15.2. References

16 Chance, Complexity and the Idea of a Universal Ethics

16.1. Cosmic evolution and advances in computation

16.2. Two notions of complexity

16.3. Biological computations

16.4. Energy and emergy

16.5. What we hold onto

16.6. Noah knew this already!

16.7. Create, protect and collect

16.8. An ethics of organized complexity

16.9. Not so easy

16.10. References

List of Authors

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Begin Reading

List of Authors

Index

End User License Agreement

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Series EditorJean-Charles Pomerol

Chance, Calculation and Life

A Journey Beyond Appearances

Edited by

Thierry Gaudin

Marie-Christine Maurel

Jean-Charles Pomerol

First published 2021 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

© ISTE Ltd 2020

ISTE Ltd27-37 St George’s RoadLondon SW19 4EUUK USA

www.iste.co.uk

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030

www.wiley.com

© ISTE Ltd 2021

The rights of Thierry Gaudin, Marie-Christine Maurel and Jean-Charles Pomerol to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020952689

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78630-667-8

Preface

The Centre Culturel International de Cerisy proposes, each year from the end of May to early October and within the welcoming context of a 17th-century castle, a historic monument, meetings to bring together artists, researchers, teachers, students, social and economical actors, as well as the wider public interested in cultural and scientific exchanges.

A long cultural tradition

– Between 1910 and 1939, Paul Desjardins organized the famous “decades” in Pontigny abbey, to unite eminent personalities for debates on literary, social and political themes.

– In 1952, Anne Heurgon-Desjardins, while repairing the castle, created the

Centre Culturel

and continued, with her own personal touch, the work of her father.

– From 1977 to 2006, her daughters, Catherine Peyrou and Edith Heurgon, took the lead and brought a new dimension to the activities.

– Today, after the departure of Catherine and then of Jacques Peyrou, Cerisy continues under the management of Edith Heurgon and Dominique Peyrou, supported by Anne Peyrou-Bas and Christian Peyrou, also part of Cerisy castle’s Civil Society, as well as with the support of an efficient and dedicated team led by Philippe Kister.

A like-minded original project

– They receive, in a prestigious setting far removed from urban disturbances and for a relatively long time period, people who are animated by the same attraction for discussion, in order to, through communal contemplation, invent new ideas and weave lasting connections.

– The Civil Society graciously puts the premises at the disposal of the

Association des Amis de Pontigny-Cerisy

, with no lucrative purpose and recognized for its public interest, currently presided over by Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld, the inspector general of finances.

A regularly supported action

– The

Centre Culturel

, the main means of action of the Association, has organized nearly

750 symposiums

broaching, through completely independent routes, the most diverse of themes. These symposiums have given rise, through various editors, to the publication of approximately

550 books

.

– The

Centre National du Livre

ensures continuous support to the organization and publication of the symposiums. The

territorial collectivities

(Normandy Region, department Council of the Manche, Coutances Mer and Bocage) and the

regional directorate of cultural affairs

bring their support to the Center, which also organizes, alongside the

Universities of Caen

and

Rennes 2

, encounters on themes concerning Normandy and the Great West.

– A

Cercle des Partenaires

, circle of partners, formed of enterprises, local collectives and public bodies, supports and even initiates

prospective

encounters on the main

contemporary challenges

.

– Since 2012, a new modern and accessible conference room has allowed for a new formula: the “Entretiens de la Laiterie”, days for exchanges and debates, a collaborative effort from the partners of the Association.

Thierry GAUDINMarie-Christine MAURELJean-Charles POMEROLJanuary 2021

Information:

CCIC, Le Château, 50210 Cerisy-la-Salle, France

Tel.: + 33 (0) 2 33 46 91 66

website: www.ccic-cerisy.asso.fr

email: [email protected]

Introduction

During the Cerisy week that we organized in 2016, on the theme of Sciences de la vie, sciences de l’information (Gaudin et al. 2018; Life Sciences, Information Sciences), many questions were raised about the role of chance in the development and evolution of living beings. With the aim of further investigating this very specific question, that is, the role of chance in life, we once again invited eminent specialists in life, evolution, physics, probability and philosophy to Cerisy, during the week of August 29 to September 5, 2019.

This book is a collation of the main contributions presented on this occasion. In the first part, “Randomness in all of its Aspects”, we will try to identify the concept in its various avatars. This part begins with a presentation by Cristian S. Calude and Giuseppe Longo who distinguish, from a scientific and philosophical point of view, the three generally recognized types of chance: “Common, Biological and Quantum Randomness”. We can define common chance as either: the meeting of two independent chains of causality; or, as an event for which we ignore the causality or for a law which we know is very sensitive to small disturbances, disturbances which as Calude and Longo discuss, may in fact exist below the sensitivity threshold of our measuring instruments. This sensitivity to small initial disturbances leads to chaos in the mathematical sense of the term, and was illustrated at Cerisy by the screening of Etienne Ghys’s videos, as commented on by Grégory Miermont. For his part, Gilles Pagès presents the point of view of the probabilist, who does not acknowledge chance, only probabilities. He also reminds us of the importance of the Monte-Carlo method, which consists of the creation of randomness through computer simulations, and shows us that the process by which mathematician-computer scientists “draw random numbers” is not so simple. Pagès goes on to echo Paul Lévy’s declaration: “Nature ignores chance”. In a very enlightening talk on the historical and etymological origins of words, Clarisse Herrenschmidt checks this statement by reminding us that many languages have made an allocation for the concept of chance and have found words to express it.

Niels Bohr’s interpretation of quantum physics has continued to engage, even scientists, by introducing what seems to be an intrinsic probability. This helped to inspire an article by François Vannucci on wave-particle duality: quantum randomness but statistical determinism. Einstein never really accepted indeterminacy and we see that the challenge to “Bohrian” indeterminism continues; this was illustrated by a disturbing presentation by Stéphane Douady. This indeterminacy extends to astrophysics and the theory of multiple universes, as we will discover from the inspired pen of Michel Cassé.

Does chance govern our decisions? Mathias Pessiglione explains how and why the brain does not maximize an expected utility. Nonetheless, reflecting on this further, he explains the mechanism of random decision-making in the brain, thereby posing the question of free will. Chance as divine intervention, as has often been suggested, could be another name for the hand of God when he does not want to reveal himself. This naturally leads to philosophical and poetic reflections before moving on to the second part of this account, devoted to biology and evolution. We will therefore focus on the meaning of life as captured by the poetic intelligence of Georges Amar, on a meandering path from Hölderlin to William of Ockham and Spinoza, passing many poets, including Rimbaud, Baudelaire and many others. “Le hasard et le divin” (Chance and the Divine) is the apt title chosen by Bertrand Vergely to share with us his thoughts on randomness, necessity and inner life, culminating in a passage on chance and Grace. This first part will end with a semantic exploration of the words “chance” and “creation”, as guided by Ivan Magrin-Chagnolleau who defines himself as an “artist-researcher”. Beyond semantics, he invites us to reflect on the links between randomness and artistic creation. Randomness is the only source of creation in genetics, as per Jacques Monod’s vision. However, forms may require subjectivity to exist in order for them to work. This brings us to the tipping point, or kairos, alluded to by Bertrand Vergely, a moment in which the artist and the researcher has but a split second in which to grab it by the horns.

In the second part, “Randomness, Biology and Evolution”, we begin with the topical subject of epigenetics, through a brilliant chapter by David Sitbon and Jonathan B. Weitzmann. The latter very clearly defines the pathways of randomness in sexual reproduction, in terms of the pairing of alleles and mutations. They also explain the role of chromatin in gene expression, and how the environment is involved in this epigenetic process. In a well-documented article, Bernard Dujon explains how genes are exchanged between neighboring species, or more distantly, during a horizontal transfer. This process is well known in prokaryotes, in particular through the introduction of foreign DNA using retroviruses (a process used in gene therapy). In contrast, the extent of this phenomenon in multicellular eukaryotes is only just beginning to be understood. The acquisition of genes by horizontal transmission justifies the title: “Quand l’acquis devient héréditaire” (When Acquisition becomes Hereditary). The link between the environment and randomness becomes obvious when one considers that this horizontal acquisition results from encounters, of a random nature, within a given biotope (i.e. the role of environment).

From reproduction to evolution, it is but a step to join Philippe Grandcolas as he tries to show that evolution does not happen completely at random. Evolutionary pressure and the environment constrain evolution. Philippe Grandcolas discusses the significance of adaptive pressure and specific inheritance. By analyzing the notions of convergence and parallelism, as well as the presentation of some evolutionary experiments, Philippe Grandcolas qualifies Gould’s examination on the eventual “replay” of evolution.

With Amaury Lambert, we remain in the field of evolution and focus, more precisely, on the transition from genotype to phenotype in terms of the constraints of Waddington’s1 epigenetic landscape. After distinguishing between the different types of randomness in evolution, Lambert models how the phenotype can resist genetic hazards, thereby providing a precise meaning for the notion of “canalization” as introduced by Waddington. From this standpoint, it becomes normal to wonder whether the emergence of life is the result of random chance. Asking himself this question, Antonio Lazcano gives us a remarkably well-sourced contribution on the history of scientific ideas pertaining to the origins of life, which leads to the conclusion, already glimpsed by Mayr2, that biology cannot be reduced to physics and chemistry since “Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution”3. Therefore, we can qualify biology as a “historical science”. Like history, evolution has its constraints and its own contingency, and therefore, very probably, random chance played a part in the emergence of life. Establishing this, however, brings about the question, is evolution naturally accompanied by an increase in complexity and an increase in biodiversity?

This question is asked by Jean-Paul Delahaye. To try and give a precise meaning to this question, Jean-Paul Delahaye reminds us of the notions of Kolmogorov computational complexity and Benett structural complexity4. Like the Universe, which tends to become increasingly complex in the sense of Benett, Jean-Paul Delahaye hypothesizes that evolution is likewise a process that tends toward complexification, one that sometimes backtracks on itself with the result of it being erased. The growing complexity of living things is reflected upon in terms of biodiversity. There seems to be a certain human attraction to complexity, in particular by living organisms, a tropism that opens the door for a discussion on the ethics of organized complexity and it is along this line of questioning that Jean-Paul Delahaye, by way of recommendation, brings about his conclusion.

The purpose of this introduction is to give a brief overview on the richness of this work. From mathematics to the humanities, by way of biology, there are many questions and concepts linked to randomness to uncover. The contributions gathered here have the advantage of presenting the latest scientific results in a synthesized form, and with an abundant bibliography, that will serve both researchers and doctoral students. Yes, randomness is a part of life, evolution and reproduction, but always under certain constraints; importantly, according to the vision of quantum physics, individual randomness does not deter statistical determinism. This is a vast subject for multidisciplinary reflection that speaks to the irreducible individuation of man in a Universe that is increasingly explained and statistically deterministic.

Acknowledgments

This week could not have happened without the understanding of the many working colleagues and their laboratories, who carried some of the cost. We would like to thank EDF Île-de-France for the support given to the association of friends of Cerisy-Pontigny, which made it possible to organize this meeting. In addition, the CNRS institutes (INEE, INSB, INSMI, IN2P3) have also made their contribution. Finally, we would like to thank ISTE,who took over part of the editing, in particular, the English edition.

In memoriam

For two years, Dominique Lacroix helped us with the preparations for this conference, which blossomed from the one held in 2016. She unfortunately left us in June of 2019 and as such, was unable to meet with the speakers whom she knew. She would have been very happy to meet them again; however, the chance that is inherent to life decided otherwise. It is with great sadness that we dedicate this book to her.

Reference

Gaudin, T., Lacroix, D., Maurel, M.-C., Pomerol, J.-C. (eds) (2018). Life Sciences, Information Sciences. ISTE Ltd, London, and John Wiley & Sons, New York.

1

See the Waddington landscape images and references in Amaury Lambert’s article.

2

See the reference in the article by Antonio Lazcano.

3

Quote from Théodore Dobjansky:

American Biology Teacher

, 35, 125–129, 1973.

4

See references in the article by Jean-Paul Delahaye.

Introduction written by Thierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL and Jean-Charles POMEROL.

PART 1Randomness in all of its Aspects