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A search for the first learning and the first memory processes has to start at the source of life. Even in nonliving nature we find examples of self-organisation that resemble life. Eddies in streaming water, regular ripples caused by wind over water, they are transitory stable states and adapt to changes in the water-volume or the direction of the wind. The chaotic movement of the current has for a moment escaped from chaos. Since the ordered state of the eddies and the dynamic equilibrium of the ripples are not far removed from chaos, the patterns closely follow the changes of water and wind. They are thus a simplified model of life that varies by adaptation to varying influences. Self-organisation is inevitable in a wide range of systems.
ORDERED BEHAVIOUR
is a transitional phase between stability and chaos
stability is rigid, has no variation, no adaptation
chaotic behaviour has no order, no selection, no memory
the transitional phase maintains a dynamic equilibrium
Wind ripples on a lake's surface, sand ripples and grooves on the beach at low tide, melodious sounds made by the wind whistling and a window squeaking, they are examples of nature creating order out of chaos. We'll have to wait for results of complexity theory to understand the beginnings of life. Complexity makes order out of chaos and gives rise to unforeseeable behaviour in all kinds of systems. Complexity results from interaction of component parts within a system. Interaction cannot occur in a state of total chaos nor in a state of absolute rigidity. Life and growth can therefore only occur in the narrow margin between chaos and rigidity.
LIFE IS INEVITABLE
its origin is on the frontier between chaos and rigidity
complexity creates patterns and memory in chaotic systems
chaos generates variation in patterns that tend to become rigid
Discussions are going on about the first signs of life. Can one recognise life by a certain regularity of form, a degree of chemical complexity or a time-pattern of growth and development? There are speculative theories about the first synthesis of self-replicating systems: protein and lipoid-membrane casts on sulfurous compounds (G.Waechtershauser) or coincidental events in a soup of amino acids. Complexity has been in action in both instances. Complexity however is not identical with the property of life. The regularities of sand dunes and weather systems are due to complexity. The existence of life is one of the consequences of complexity: a fortuitous accident (W.Kayzer 1993).
By a fortunate coincidence molecular structures did find each other in such a way that they supplemented each other and created the functions of growth and replication. This will remain the leading motive of evolution and learning. From a variety of possible combinations one is selected that yields a profitable increase in complexity. Combinations of small and large organisms can result in an intense symbiosis that is a step forward on the path of evolution. As long as a large organism depends on the function of a small one, the latter is sure of its future well-being, because that is in the best interest of the large one.
Evolution and learning are both a result of interaction with the environment. When a species or an organism is forced or challenged to adapt to a change in the environment it responds with variations of behaviour. The best fitting response is selectively reinforced and stored as memory. Out of such transactions a new process-layer is generated around the core of the system. By using the new intermediate layer the core can now respond in a more differentiated way to its environment. Every transaction in a process of learning ends in reconciling the divergence between the system and its environment. This is called synergy. As a result of synergy, complexity has increased: the organisation has been raised to a higher level.
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