The paper seeks to make a contribution towards a better understanding of the current global political unrest. It argues that this unrest reflects ongoing tensions between hierarchical and non-hierarchical interactions. It also argues that the opposition between hierarchical and non-hierarchical interactions is not ontological but rather is rooted in the way we approach reality and is, therefore, subject to our control. The tendency to exclude the process of construction from our frame of vision is characteristic for the view of reality (...) that is dominant in our civilization. Contemporary theoretical perspectives that include, but are not limited to, systems theory, complexity theory, theory of self-organization, emergence theory and autopoiesis have much to offer in addressing and resolving this problem. The paper outlines some general organizing principles that should be part of this solution. (shrink)

This paper attempts to establish a systems-semiotic framework explaining creativity in the design process, where the design process is considered to have as its basis the cognitive process. The design process is considered as the interaction between two or more cognitive systems resulting in a purposeful and ongoing transformation of their already complex representational structures and the production of newer ones, in order to fulfill an ill-defined goal. Creativity is considered as the result of an emergence of organizational complexity in (...) each cognitive system participating in the design process, while it is trying to purposefully incorporate new constraints in its meaning structures. The meanings generated in each system are identified as the contingent and anticipatory content of its representations, and where self-organization is the dominant process in which they are continuously involved. Furthermore, Peircean semiotic processes appear to provide the functionality needed by the emergent representational structures in order to complete the cycle of a creative design process. Creativity originates in the abductive stage of the semiotic process, the fallible nature of which is maintained in the proposed framework by the fact that the respective emergent representations can be misfits. The nodal points of the framework are identified and analyzed showing that a cognitive system needs the whole interactive anticipatory cycle in order to engage in a creative design process. (shrink)

The article presents a conceptually unified, quantitative account of the development of chemical phenomena throughout the cosmic history, with a detailed discussion of the cosmological, astrophysical, geological, biological, and anthropological context. The totality of cosmic chemistry is represented by a list of 176 classes of phenomena, drawn from the Universal Decimal Classification library cataloguing system, and divided into 6 phases: of no chemistry, of prestellar chemistry, of galactic chemistry, of planetary chemistry, of biological chemistry, of human history. These are separated (...) by periods of intensive chemical innovation, likened to phase changes based on four similarities: the rapidity of change, its intensity, the presence of nucleation-like dynamics, and dependence of outcome on history. The limitations and perspectives of the method are described, including the extension of the analysis to all 893 UDC classes relevant to the study of nature. The role of chemical phenomena in the general architecture of the universe is shortly discussed, especially their complex relationships with basic phenomena described by physics. (shrink)

The present paper is meant to give a simple introduction to the problem of the connection between microscopic dynamics and statistical laws. For sake of simplicity, we mostly refer to non-dissipative dynamics, since dissipation adds technical difficulties to the conceptual issues, although part of our discussion extends beyond this limit. In particular, the relevance of chaos and ergodicity is here confronted with that of the large number of degrees of freedom. In Section 2, we review the microscopic connection, along the (...) lines of Boltzmann's approach, and of its further developments. In Section 3, we discuss the falsifiability of statistical mechanics and its role as statistical inference. In particular we argue that the Maximum entropy priciple is in general not a predictive tool. (shrink)

In this paper the life phenomenon is analysed from cybernetic point of view. The Korzeniewski’s approach is discussed and complemented. The analysis is based on autonomous systems theory and information metabolism theory. Philosophical aspects of the problem are taken into consideration as well.

The brain displays both the anatomical features of a vast amount of interconnected topological mappings as well as the functional features of a nonlinear, metastable system at the edge of chaos, equipped with a phase space where mental random walks tend towards lower energetic basins. Nevertheless, with the exception of some advanced neuro-anatomic descriptions and present-day connectomic research, very few studies have been addressing the topological path of a brain embedded or embodied in its external and internal environment. Herein, by (...) using new formal tools derived from algebraic topology, we provide an account of the metastable brain, based on the neuro-scientific model of Operational Architectonics of brain-mind functioning. We introduce a “topodynamic” description that shows how the relationships among the countless intertwined spatio-temporal levels of brain functioning can be assessed in terms of projections and mappings that take place on abstract structures, equipped with different dimensions, curvatures and energetic constraints. Such a topodynamical approach, apart from providing a biologically plausible model of brain function that can be operationalized, is also able to tackle the issue of a long-standing dichotomy: it throws indeed a bridge between the subjective, immediate datum of the naïve complex of sensations and mentations and the objective, quantitative, data extracted from experimental neuro-scientific procedures. Importantly, it opens the door to a series of new predictions and future directions of advancement for neuroscientific research. (shrink)