The biological Maxwell's demons: exploring ideas about the information processing in biological systems

Mizraji, Eduardo

doi:10.1007/s12064-021-00354-6

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…The article by Parrondo, Horowitz and Sagawa (2015) contains an updated technical vision on the thermodynamics of information. A recent analysis that complements these results is in Mizraji (2021).…”

Section: Reflections Of Rapkine and Monod On Thermodynamics And Aesth...mentioning

confidence: 61%

“…In the case of reading a story like "Blue Tigers", the previous observation indicates that the complex information provided by the story is an emergent of that structured potential energy that Rapkine and Monod talk about, and the cognitive processing capacity of the reader (Mizraji 2021) .…”

Section: Borges' Texts As Ordergenerating Mirrors: a Possible Explana...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Journal of Genius and Eminence Creating order in the mind: Borges’ paradoxical mirror

Mizraji¹

2023

JGE

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In this essay we propose, based on the ideas of L. Rapkine and J. Monod on the physical reasons for aesthetic appreciation, that the interest of creative scientists in Jorge Luis Borges’ works is produced by an apparently contradictory effect: on the one hand, the serenity that these texts induce in the mind of an innovative person and, on the other, the modification of the cognitive balance that causes the complexity of these texts and that operates as a creative force. We illustrate this idea with the specific case of the story “Blue Tigers”. We show that this text by Borges, in a reader who is sensitive to it, injects information that puts the mind in a state far from the level of cognitive equilibrium. When it comes to solving a scientific problem, the search for new ways to solve the problem is enhanced by this condition in which the cognitive balance is cancelled. That is the condition in which the creation of new ideas seems possible.

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Section: Reflections Of Rapkine and Monod On Thermodynamics And Aesth...mentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Borges' Texts As Ordergenerating Mirrors: a Possible Explana...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Journal of Genius and Eminence Creating order in the mind: Borges’ paradoxical mirror

Mizraji¹

2023

JGE

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“…Besides the cytoskeleton, the cellular sentience‐generating apparatus is based on the excitable plasma membrane populated by numerous sensors, receptors, channels and diverse transporters, working together as biological versions of Maxwell demons (Boël et al., 2019; Mizraji, 2021; Flatt et al., 2023). Together, these cellular architectural elements constitute the bulwark of cellular senomic awareness.…”

Section: Mottosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sentient cells as basic units of tissues, organs and organismal physiology

Baluška,

Miller,

Reber

2023

The Journal of Physiology

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Cells evolved some 4 billion years ago, and since then the integrity of the structural and functional continuity of cellular life has been maintained via highly conserved and ancient processes of cell reproduction and division. The plasma membrane as well as all the cytoplasmic structures are reproduced and inherited uninterruptedly by each of the two daughter cells resulting from every cell division. Although our understanding of the evolutionary emergence of the very first cells is obscured by the extremely long timeline since that revolutionary event, the generally accepted position is that the de novo formation of cells is not possible; all present cells are products of other prior cells. This essential biological principle was first discovered by Robert Remak and then effectively coined as Omnis Cellula e Cellula (every cell of the cell) by Rudolf Virchow: all currently living cells have direct structural and functional connections to the very first cells. Based on our previous theoretical analysis, all cells are endowed with individual sentient cognition that guides their individual agency, behaviour and evolution. There is a vital consequence of this new sentient and cognitive view of cells: when cells assemble as functional tissue ecologies and organs within multicellular organisms, including plants, animals and humans, these cellular aggregates display derivative versions of aggregate tissue‐ and organ‐specific sentience and consciousness. This innovative view of the evolution and physiology of all currently living organisms supports a singular principle: all organismal physiology is based on cellular physiology that extends from unicellular roots.

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“…As Wicken notes, processes within these systems “all occur within the constraints of the Second Law of thermodynamics; that is, they all generate entropy, which according to the standard interpretations, is reducible to the concept of statistical order” (Wicken, 1978, p. 191). Therefore, any such system is subject to the thermodynamic cost of information manipulations (Mitrokhin, 2014; Parrondo et al , 2015; Mizraji, 2021), in particular, because such manipulations drive these systems away from thermodynamic equilibrium and most statistically probable state.…”

Section: Information and Entropymentioning

confidence: 99%

Entropy and institutional theory

Aksom

2022

IJOA

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Purpose Once introduced and conceptualized as a factor that causes erosion and decay of social institutions and subsequent deinstitutionalization, the notion of entropy is at odds with predictions of institutional isomorphism and seems to directly contradict the tendency toward ever-increasing institutionalization. The purpose of this paper is to offer a resolution of this theoretical inconsistency by revisiting the meaning of entropy and reconceptualizing institutionalization from an information-theoretic point of view. Design/methodology/approach It is a theoretical paper that offers an information perspective on institutionalization. Findings A mistaken understanding of the nature and role of entropy in the institutional theory is caused by conceptualizing it as a force that counteracts institutional tendencies and acts in opposite direction. Once institutionalization and homogeneity are seen as a product of natural tendencies in the organizational field, the role of entropy becomes clear. Entropy manifests itself at the level of information processing and corresponds with increasing uncertainty and the decrease of the value of information. Institutionalization thus can be seen as a special case of an increase in entropy and a decrease of knowledge. Institutionalization is a state of maximum entropy. Originality/value It is explained why institutionalization and institutional persistence are what to be expected in the long run and why information entropy contributes to this tendency. Contrary to the tenets of the institutional work perspective, no intentional efforts of individuals and collective actors are needed to maintain institutions. In this respect, the paper contributes to the view of institutional theory as a theory of self-organization.

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The biological Maxwell's demons: exploring ideas about the information processing in biological systems

Cited by 12 publications

References 61 publications

Journal of Genius and Eminence Creating order in the mind: Borges’ paradoxical mirror

Journal of Genius and Eminence Creating order in the mind: Borges’ paradoxical mirror

Sentient cells as basic units of tissues, organs and organismal physiology

Entropy and institutional theory

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