10.07.08
‘Darwinian selection is politically marked’
Stan Salthe Re Runnegar & Natural Selection
Tuesday, 7 October 2008, 12:55 pm
Opinion: Scoop Feedback
The reason I raise this is that Darwinian selection is politically marked. It is, one might say, a key part of the mythology of capitalism, and the global capitalist growth economy is clearly a major cause of our looming environmental disaster. — STAN SALTHE
Gregorio Kelly said,
October 8, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Salthe’s words here are more profoundly supported then he can yet imagine, what with his reluctance to engage mathematical biology. And with the tendentious treatment of quantum mechanics and its role in life, formulated by Runnegar.
For those not familiar with either of these topics, I recommend a little number interpretation of an equation, from Harvard’s Lloyd Demetrius, that addresses quantum activity and natural selection. The equation is known generally as Kleiber’s Law; and Lloyd has elaborated upon it to include environmental considerations. What he has done basically is include in the exponent of biomass a variable for the efficiency of redox coupling in that biomass, called metabolic efficiency. The equation is essentially then metabolic rate (MR in watts) = biomass W (in grams) raised to the power (4ME-1)/4ME, where ME is a ratio of amperes of reduction to amperes of oxidation. What is shown then is how the recharge rate of the covalent bonds of W’s organic chemistry, determines the longevity of that W. The equation models how quantum affects appearing as the movement of electrons from food sources, coupled with thermodynamic pressures for MR stability, act upon the size and structure of W.
I won’t get into the esoteric details unless asked to, but the equation explicitly models how energy considerations act upon W, and how the little w’s that make up the big W are tied to the ME of that big W. In other words, the nature of biological organization, from small to large, is modeled. This graph clearly depicts that: 1. biological organization is based upon energetics; 2. evolution is primarily about metabolism and only secondarily about genetics; 3. replication is inseparable from metabolism; 4. complexity is an illusion; 5. natural selection relates the external world to the phases of W’s growth, replication, and longevity.
Where Salthe’s observation appears is in the structure of society, that is, where W is the society, made up of people (the little w’s). The equation models how, in organic systems, longevity is tied to the ability of W to absorb and survive fluctuations in ME from abundance to scarcity. The graph clearly suggests that the idea of competition is not part of biological organization; that the endurance of W is contingent upon the structure of W such that changes in ME are equilibrated through to all the small w’s. This rules out capitalism, federalism, and the free market (except where the latter is based upon activity between w’s, not between W’s). Introducing competition to the law of supply and demand is a favorite of those who see Darwinism as a social theory when, the math delineates, it’s all really about sharing the wealth. Yet the math also shows that equality of wealth distribution is not part of the model, perhaps assuaging the fears of the libertarians. This model ties the organism W to the conditions of the environment, and models how the generation of little w’s is usually the result of scarcity.
Interestingly the model explains the affects of caloric restriction upon mice longevity, and why this affect won’t be obtained in large mammals. Its lessons account for the metabolic role of junk DNA, where such junk is usually to be found in organisms with an average ME of over 25%. It’s a fascinating development, this math. Maybe you’ll hear more of it someday in view of its pertinence for the origins of life from chemistry. The numbers suggest that the difference between life and non-life is also illusory, that the alleged nano-bacteria that seem life-like, are simple molecules the aggregation of which resulted in life as we say we know it. The equation models the forces that drove this aggregation. Deductive inferences from the math are easily testable.
One proviso to the skeptic, you will have to toss out decades of bioenergetic garbage that includes things like chemiosmosis and proton motive forces, and that includes thermogenesis as part of metabolism. Are you ready?
A paper entitled “The Terrestrial Evolution of Metabolism and Life - By the Numbers”, with graph and table of numbers, is available if you want to know more.