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There is reasonable evidence suggesting that humans have an innate tendency toward being religious. Consequently, religion is unlikely to disappear; the question then is how this feature will impact on future society. Three scenarios are discussed: One, science will dominate; two, religion will dominate; and three, the present conflict between the two is resolved. The latter scenario may happen through a realization that religion has the potential for doing more good than bad, in terms of individual quality of life and in improving society. Obtaining maximum benefit of religion will require a concept of God that is compatible with science, and that can be accepted as a common core for the various faiths. Science may help in this endeavor. KEYWORDS: Evolution, rationality, religion, science. DOI: 10.1080/02604027.2010.484734

Science, and with it our understanding of evolutionary processes, is itself undergoing evolution. The evolutionary framework still most frequently used by the general public to describe and guide processes of societal development is erroneously grounded in Darwinian perspectives or, at the very least, draws facile analogies from biological evolution. The present inquiry incorporates fresh insights on the general systemic nature of developmental dynamics from the most recent advances in the transdisciplinary realm of the sciences of complexity (e.g., general evolution theory, cybernetics, information and communication theory, chaos theory, dynamical systems theory, and nonequilibrium thermodynamics). The description of the evolutionary trajectory of complex dynamical systems as irreversible, periodically chaotic, and strongly nonlinear agrees with certain features of the historical processes of societal development. But there are additional features of the evolutionary dynamic of natural systems that are seldom portrayed as part of human developmental deportment. These features include elements such as the convergence of existing systems at progressively higher levels of organization, the increasingly efficient utilization of environmental energy, and the complexification of system structures in states that are progressively further removed from chemical and thermodynamic equilibria. The sciences of complexity offer insight into the laws and dynamics that govern the evolution of complex systems across a variety of disciplinary areas of investigation. Through a study of the isomorphisms across disciplinary constructs in the theoretical analyses of the principles governing the evolution of human societies, it is possible to enrich the account of developmental dynamics at the socio-civilizational level. Such an account would further our understanding of the phenomenon of societal development and provide the means for the purposeful guidance of this phenomenon in accordance with general evolutionary principles. This article sets forth the type of considerations, and outlines a general research agenda, for inquiry toward an operational model of the evolutionary development of social systems. KEYWORDS: Evolution, societal development, sustainability, syntony, systems design.

Although the Neo-Darwin Theory of Evolution is one of the most celebrated theories in science, nonetheless it has received many criticisms. These criticisms are documented and a new transdisciplinary theory of origin is introduced. Darwin's original argument was that natural selection, through heritable changes, changed simple organisms over time. These heritable changes are responsible for the complex plethora of life seen around us today. Darwin's original theory, however, was reconstructed after the fact into a mutation-based theory. This mutation-based theory in its current form is an insufficient and indeed unnecessary transdisciplinary explanation. A subsequent statistical comparison between the six extant scientifically based primary theories of origin was undertaken and based on current biological knowledge a statistically significantly (p < .05) best fit phenotypic model emerged. KEYWORDS: Entropy, extinction, meta-theory, natural selection, phenotypic.

Societal collapse has been a perennial concern of humanity, at least since the early Greeks. Recent publication of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and Ervin Laszlo's The Chaos Window: The World at the Crossroads renew this concern. Despite the urgency in these and many similar calls to action, no consensus theory and practice of evolutionary civilization exists. This article calls for collaborative action by the evolutionary systems community and related disciplines to provide insight into what has been dubbed 'the most important question in the world today' (Smith, 2005, p. 436). KEYWORDS: Evolutionary systems, project proposal, societal collapse.

Life, and therefore evolution, is a creative process; creativity is not an attribute of a few gifted people. The way we think obscures this truth. Three ways of dealing with a problem are creativity, calculation, and choice. Creativity can occur when a single idea is held in two contradictor frames of reference. Thus to be creative we have to put aside our usual ways of thinking, which are based on either/or. When we put aside this way of thinking we will see that things do not change: they are change. KEYWORDS: Creativity, Darwin, evolution, logic, Zen.

Collective Intelligence (CI) can be formalized as a specific (1) computational process through the use of a molecular model of computations and mathematical logic, in terms of interacting information_molecules, which are chaotically or quasi-chaotically displacing and running natural-based inference processes in their own environment. The formal definition of Collective Intelligence as a property of a social structure of beings of any nature is surprisingly short and abstract (which is astonishing) from definitions of Life. The formal definition of Collective Intelligence proposed by the author in the last few years seems to be valid for the whole spectrum of beings, in human social structures to ants in colonies, and even for bacterial colonies. It has recently been found that the CI definition also has an engineering value. The theory of CI can also be used to better understand Evolution because it allows us to locate and relate Life and Intelligence in Evolution. Moreover, this approach presents Evolution as something more complex than can be concluded from Darwinism. Probably the most surprising fact is that a simple extrapolation of the definition of Collective Intelligence brings us to the conclusion that most probably the first elementary Collective Intelligence emerged on Earth in the 'chemical soup of primeval molecules,' much before Life emerged. Collective Intelligence can be defined with fewer and weaker conditions than Life requires. Perhaps the emergence of that early elementary Collective Intelligence provided the basic momentum to build Life as we now know it. Thus Evolution caused Intelligence to create Life. Our hypothesis is consistent with biochemistry theories that 'primeval biochemical molecules' started to interact, 'firing' the Collective Intelligence of their 'elementary chemical social structure' for survival. This successful action boosted further growth of complexity in that 'elementary social structure,' which finally resulted in the emergence of 'well-defined Life.' Furthermore, it provided a self-propagating cycle of growth of individual and collective Intelligence and individual and collective Life. The Collective Intelligence of ants, wolves, humans, and so forth today is only a higher level of Collective Intelligence development. Thus the present Evolution is a computational process of unidentified complexity where Life, Intelligence, and perhaps other as yet undiscovered components play temporary roles. In this paper we provide formalization and a proposed partial proof for this hypothesis. KEYWORDS: Brownian movements, beings, Collective Intelligence, Darwinism, Evolution, holistic Darwinism, Life, mathematical logic, molecular model of computations, primeval biochemical molecules, probability, quasi-chaotic behavior, social structure.

Increasingly gaining the attention of evolution theorists and other scientists is the new quantum-vacuum-interactive, or QVI-field theory of Ervin Laszlo. Among other prospective advancements, this theory would add a fifth primary field to the four already identified by physics to account for the existence of the universe and our lives within it. As the physics and other matters involved make this new theory difficult for those other than physicists to understand, this account is written to provide a guide for the generalist and lay person. KEYWORDS: Quantum Vacuum Interaction, QVI-field, physics, biology, cosmology, Big Bang scenario, cognitive science, nonlocality, psi phenomena, Bohm, Pribram, Sheldrake, field concept, gravitation, electromagnetism, weak and strong nuclear interactions, fifth field

This paper critically examines Ken Wilber's transpersonal evolutionary theory in the context of the philosophical discourse of postmodernity. The critique focuses on Wilber's refutation of non-absolutist and non-universalist approaches to rationality, truth, and morality - such as cultural relativism, pluralism, constructivism or perspectivism - under the charges of being epistemologically self-refuting and morally pernicious. First, it is suggested that Wilber offers a faulty dichotomy between his absolutist-universalist metanarrative and a self-contradictory and pernicious vulgar relativism. Second, it is shown that Wilber's arguments for the self-refuting and pernicious nature of other non-absolutist approaches are both fallacious and distorting. Finally, the problematic consequences of absolutist discourse for academic and cross-cultural dialogue are pinpointed. Taking Wilber's treatment of Nagarjuna's thinking as a paradigmatic example, it is suggested that absolutist thinking both usually leads to 'bad' hermeneutics, and potentially hinders genuine dialogue among people and traditions holding different world views. KEYWORDS: absolutism, relativism, evolution, transpersonal, dialogue, Wilber

This article, originally meant for an Auroville publication, consists mainly, besides the quotations, of a wide range of suggestions related to a transcultural approach to various questions raised by transdisciplinary research. All these suggestions converge on a central focus; the virtual reality of a subject/object interaction that eludes narrow disciplinary restrictions as well as rigid cultural definitions. Here, significantly, etymology seems to lead towards mythical cultural watersheds, just as philology has been offering clues to some fundamental philosophical discoveries, from Nietsche to G. Colli. The recent impact of Orientalist studies leads further into the same initiatic dimension, wherein metaphysics, ontology, aesthetics, linguistics, cosmology and psychology, all blend in a continuum of psychic experience, while variations of conscious awareness could only be described, and not sharply differentiated. All this would point, not only to the emergence of new cognitive methods, but also to correspondingly adequate means of expression. A transcultural approach could, moreover, provide vital links between today's originality and the spiritual traditions of the past, adding thus a sense of cultural continuity to our endeavours in understanding evolution. KEYWORDS: aesthetics, linguistics, utopia, veda-vedanta, yoga, mantra, camat

The meaning of evolution for the study of cognitive mechanisms in animals and, particularly, knowledge phenomena in humans is - and has been since more than a century - the focus of many controversies in different disciplines. By taking evolution seriously, many naturalists and some philosophers have extended the evolutionary paradigm to all epistemic activities including such specifically human activities as science. However, there has also been resistance to evolutionary models, and it has been argued that what is now called 'evolutionary epistemology' is an unduly reductionistic research program and hardly apt to give sufficient explanations of complex mental processes in humans. Others have criticized the evolutionary theory of cognition/knowledge as a metaphysical theory which cannot transgress its own premises and thus remains confined in a vicious circle. The aim of the present review is to show today's status of evolutionary epistemology as a scientific theory based on results in different fields of biological research, and to follow the main lines of recent discussions and controversies. Also, the connections between evolutionary epistemology and sociobiology are discussed and the relations between evolutionary models of mind and ethical issues outlined. Furthermore, it is pointed out that evolutionary epistemology will profit from an interchange with some recent developments in particular branches of (biological) science, e.g. neurobiology, and emerging disciplines like cognitive ethology. KEYWORDS: evolution, cognition, evolutionary epistemology, evolutionary ethics, survival

This paper outlines the grand scenario of cosmic evolution by examining the ongoing changes among radiation, matter and life in standard, big-bang cosmology. Using aspects of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and information science, we argue that it is the contrasting temporal behavior of various energy densities that have given rise to the environments needed for the emergence of galaxies, stars, planets, and life forms. We furthermore argue that a necessary (though perhaps not sufficient) condition - a veritable prime mover - for the emergence of such ordered structures of growing complexity is the expansion of the Universe itself. Neither demonstrably new science nor appeals to non-science are needed to explain the impressive hierarchy of developmental change, from quark to quasar, from microbe to mind. KEYWORDS: free energy, flux density, matter, radiation, life

In light of current developments in the natural and human sciences, evolution promises to become a key element of the new scientific paradigm. Because of the invariances of change and development discovered in the various-disciplines investigating the behavior of complex systems, the evolutionary paradigm satisfies a basic search for meaning, transcending the limited meanings that attach to particular areas of inquiry. KEYWORDS: evolution, invariance, irreversibility, system

The quasi-homogeneous cold water mass lying deeper than 1000 m below sea level serves as a sink for, and hence is rich in, inorganic nutrients, including nitrates and above all phosphates, which, directly or through numerous food chains, have found their way to the ocean bottom. This cold water mass surfaces during the cold season in temperate zones and permanently in arctic/antarctic zones, which could support extremely rich marine life permitted by relatively low temperatures. Such fruits de mer are predated by rich marine faunas of local and migrating mammals and birds. As for the migrating birds, they breed during the short summer in both circumpolar zones of the earth, to bring the newly acquired biomaterial including inorganic matter to their overwintering sites of the temperate/subtropical region. Through food chains mainly involving birds and insects, the nutrients accumulated in the deep sea waters would thus be brought back to the land, upwards even to the high mountains. A similar role may be attributed to salmonids and their southern hemisphere counterparts. In the case of woodland birds, an estimate made in Japan indicates that ca. 10 tons per km[superscript 2] of insects support the total insectivorous bird lives of the area. This figure may approximately be used as an index of the inorganic nutrients to be returned per annum to the soil through bird droppings and corpses. Using the number of salmonids caught during the peak period of the highly exploitative fishery perpetrated by Japanese fishing boats around 1910 near the mouth of Amur River, I estimate possible biomass contribution to the land from the sea by salmon returning to the upstream of the Amur in wilderness (ca. 6000 tons per annum). According to Arsen'ev (1930), a school of salmons swimming upstream became a victim of active predation by mammals and birds in the mountains. Whereas the total length of the main path of the Amur beyond the junction of Shilka and Onon Rivers is ca. 4000 km, the total contribution of biomass (and hence inorganic material) by salmonid fish to land would amount to, using the above index for birds' annual predation of insects per unit area, an equivalent of 100 m-wide zone along streams of a total length of at least 60,000 km, a distance which would cover a good part of smaller tributary currents of the Amur. The coevolution of nutrient recycling through organism's migration throughout the global ecosystem would be difficult to explain by natural selection, because there cannot be competition for improvement with the unique system of global redistribution of nutrient materials. Also the time scale needed to bring about selection would by far exceed the generation time of organisms involved. KEYWORDS: coevolution, nutrient recycling, ecosystem

Evolution is a mode of natural dynamics par excellence, in which many participants interact with each other. In particular, any dynamics can identify itself by explicating how it addresses itself to the following two questions. (1) How does each participant come to detect others? (2) How does each move with and act upon others? The Galilean-Newtonian mechanics concentrates on the second question on movement dynamics by dismissing the significance of the first question on detection dynamics only except for mentioning its role of identifying the initial conditions. Thermodynamics, on the other hand, emphasizes the role of detection dynamics as demonstrated in its second law stating that if the process of detection proceeds only locally as it should, movement dynamics would necessarily exhibit an irreversible enhancement of randomization. We note that any detection dynamics proceeding internally is local in the sense that complete identification of evolving systems in a globally simultaneous manner is not attainable. Detection dynamics of necessarily local character comes to imply that there is an inevitable time-delay between detecting others in the neighborhood and acting upon them accordingly. The time-delay between detection and action perceived by each participant, or in the eyes of the participants, serves as a causative factor of evolutionary dynamics of any type. Most indicative of the time-delay between detection and action is heterotrophic activity, in the latter of which an arbitrary participant in an evolutionary process has the capacity of taking in necessary material resources as responding to detecting what its neighborhood looks like. Although it leaves behind only material flow continuity, heterotrophic activity as the capacity of wanting material resources for the sake of the continuity in the record is an agency connecting between detection and movement dynamics. KEYWORDS: evolution, natural dynamics, detection, action

This paper summarizes the various physical science elements of the evolutionary story. The 'nonlinear' revolution includes chaos, self-organization theory, the thermodynamics of evolution, and biological evolution. The key result of the revolution is a physical understanding of how order emerges and change is driven. This paper brings the lessons of each branch of the revolution together into a single easily understood thread. The unexpected result of this revolution is an understanding of evolution as a single inexorable physical process that has given rise to everything from molecules to humankind. Here evolution is driven by energy flow and involves increasing efficiency, the growth of complexity, and the acceleration of change. This paper ties the resulting physical insights to an evolving ecological world view, looks at its ties to spirituality and applies the rules that govern the growth of complexity to business and its current crisis. The net result of the nonlinear revolution is a radical change in our everyday understanding of how the world works, a shift away from classical science's machine world to the vision of an evolving deeply ecologically intertwined world. KEYWORDS: physics of evolution, chaos, evolution

That article is about the way in which the living being is defined and keeps its identity all over its life, in spite of - and due to - the changes in matter and structure which may affect it. It is that evolution itself, being separate of the environment's evolution, which secures the formation of the living being as a distinct entity. And as this distinct evolution is permanent, it therefore grants a permanent identity to the so-defined being. KEYWORDS: definition, identity, living being, system, evolution, development, information

Uncertainties about the goals and methods of science have prompted a turn to the humanities for guidance. Yet the humanities, hampered by an obsolete notion of science, are themselves in need of reinvigoration. Our vision of the future remains obscured by the ideal of omniscience, which requires that we know for certain, and down to the smallest detail, what the future will bring. Knowledge that does not measure up to this impossible ideal is devalued. Omniscience implies omnipotence, and we continue to be swayed by the myth of the all-powerful planner who can bend the future to his will. Yet if intelligence were omniscient, evolution would be rendered impossible: we would live in a world in which there were no surprises, where change and novelty would be mere illusions. The truth is that we live in a universe that is full of surprises. We must abandon the ideal of omniscience, learning to value novelty as well as knowledge, ceasing to view the two as mutually exclusive. When Aristotle warns us not to expect more precision in the treatment of a subject than the nature of that subject permits, he is not merely reminding us of our human failings but is saying something profound about the nature of the universe itself. This should prompt an abiding optimism about the future and our place in it.

It is clear that we are at a critical evolutionary juncture and learning evolutionary competence is the fundamental task of our times. So far, the primary physical basis of the evolutionary vision has been open system and self-organization theory. It is taken as a given that self-organization fits into a larger unified evolutionary process, but the physical 'why' behind this overall process has not had a concrete theoretical basis. More recent advances in the thermodynamics of evolution provide a pivotal new piece in the puzzle - an explanation of how order-production serves the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This insight provides a physical explanation of 'why' increasing levels of ordered complexity (evolution) occurs. Among its unexpected implications are a physical basis for both cooperation and competition, increased appreciation of evolutionary timing, an understanding of evolution as inexorable, and new rules governing the growth of complexity. This paper examines how this new piece adds to the evolutionary vision and explores some of its implications for evolutionary competence.

Evolutionary competence is an ideal conceptual model for overcoming the world problematique, one we move towards through the process of evolutionary learning. An emerging Systems Age worldview is articulated, based on four levels of analysis which are proposed as necessary but not sufficient for a description of a worldview. These levels of analysis inform four necessary but not sufficient dimensions for a curriculum for evolutionary learning in the Systems Age, which are discussed with references to their larger philosophical and spiritual significance. The need for systemic wisdom and a transformation on the part of the inquirer is emphasized, drawing on the work of Tarthang Tulku.

This paper explores the connections between management theory and evolutionary theory in the context of corporations as social systems. Consideration is given to their history and the process of evolution as an affirmation to our capacity for learning. Rather than presenting evolution as the perfect law in a Spinozistic sense, the use of theories is profoundly altered from the classical approach in a methodology called System Design. Instead of a means of control and prediction, theories are used as a 'springboard' for participants to select a vision of their ideal future and to move in that direction. This methodology can be argued as a vehicle for guided evolution appropriate for organizational learning. Concepts from evolution such as self-organization, hypercycle and autopoiesis are extremely useful when applied to participative management in corporations. Although the transfer of evolutionary concepts from biology to social systems has met with controversy, I will show that by raising the application from the literal to a level of abstraction which includes not human but human properties, it is possible to arrive at new models for managing organizations appropriate in turbulent times. An example of an evolutionary design inquiry by a department in a corporation is briefly described. The evolutionary vision finds a new expression of self-transcendence in our new understanding of managing organizations.

This article outlines the development of a paradigm for the mediation process as used by students. The peer-model developed suggests an evolutionary guidance system and a transformation process, which fosters authentic communication, understanding, acceptance, empowerment, and skill building. The essential feature of the mediation, the transformation process, was found to be its ability to potentiate safe and authentic communication, which was found to constitute the actual resolution. This was a unique and different finding since all previous research has focused upon the agreements made and the mediators as experts. In this study, the agreements were cited as mere by products of a deeper, more meaningful process. Awareness of the role played by authentic encounter and interaction in the mediation process across disciplines will assist in the further development of a consensus theory of mediation process, confidence in the use of design and other interactive methodologies, and the enhancement of inter and intrapersonal communication, understanding, and acceptance on all levels of global and cultural interactions.

In this lead paper, I map a road of a journey that can lead us from evolutionary consciousness to guided social evolution. In agreement with Csanyi - quoted above - I take the 'strong hypothesis' position in the current debate of the evolutionary research community. The core idea of the paper is that, although the future is influenced by the past and present, it is not determined by what is or what has been: It remains open to purposeful intervention that can be accomplished by the application of the intellectual technology of systems design, guided by evolutionary images.

The complexity of postmodern life simultaneously intensifies our need for meaningful family relatedness and makes it harder to achieve. Families need new images to guide them toward coherence and effectiveness given the multiplicity of postmodern demands and opportunities they face. Idealized family systems design (IFSD) is described as a promising means by which individual families can create such images to guide their own evolution. The experiences of eight middle class American families who undertook IFSD are described.

An archetype of rhythms is set forth which tries to explain, simply and coherently, the quantum discontinuities which take place both in the evolutionary dynamics of the Macrocosmos--universal history--and in the Microcosmos--individual development. The stationary waves and musical theory give us the key to understand those quantum leaps in the vibrating processes of unfurling and furling between the Nothing and the Whole: the successive 2nd harmonics (1/3) are generating sonorous novelties. This simple scheme fits, with surprising accuracy, all the basic bifurcations that paleontologists, anthropologists, historians and psychologists speak to us about. It seems to be confirmed then that an emerging hierarchy of order could characterize the processes of the universe. Evolution would then be the temporal unfurling ('explicate order') of those intrinsic levels of potential stability of the non-dual reality ('implicate order')., A hypothesis of rhythms is presented to explain the quantumlevels which take place both in the evolutionary processes of the universal whole and the individual systems that compose it. The evolutionary process of the universe and the development of individual organisms are both dynamic manifestations of the theory of stationary waves and the musical model of harmonic sounds. The process of the whole and the process of the part seems to strengthen the holistic view of reality.

Three great thinkers Marx, Theilhard de Chardin and Vernadsky meditated about the future of mankind and attempted to look beyond the horizons of history. However their points of departure were quite different. For Marx the source of his thoughts about the future was his doctrine about the establishment and modification of forms of ownership. Telhard's analysis by contrast, was based on the idea of man as a special kind of phenomenon. It is man who has his own spiritual world, who was born of nature and is capable of changing the course of history. Vernadsky studied the evolution of the biosphere and the ever increasing intervention of man in the processes taking place in it. Early in the twentieth century he formulated the thesis that mankind was gradually becoming the principal geologenic force of our planet. Each different approach contained some elements of a modern 'universal evolutionism' which is discussed and its historical roots revealed., Three great philosophers Karl Marx, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Vladimir Vernadsky analyzed the future of mankind and nature in completely different points of view. Marx's thesis centers on the destruction of all forms of ownership. Teilhard de Chardin's concept, by contrast, is based on man's intellect as capable of changing the course of evolutionary processes. While Vernadsky's analysis focuses on the evolution of mankind in agreement with the biosphere. All three theories concur with the current ideas on the evolution ofthe universe.

Human society has all the necessary characteristics for it to be regarded as a component system. Its basic components belong to three classes: living organisms, artifacts, and ideas. From these various higher structures: cultural complexes can be built. The creation of components involves the action and contribution of other components. The concept of creative space was developed in which an abstract representation of each component involved in the production of other components is given. By analyzing creative space it can be shown that the underlying principle of organization is the formation of a network of the various components with special functions resulting in replication of the same components and the whole social-system.

A general discussion of and a model for emergent processes is given. Emergence is described in accordance with A. N. Whitehead's theory of 'process'. The role of distinctions and variable/observable definitions is discussed. As applications, parallel computations, evolution, and 'component-systems' are discussed from the viewpoint of emergence.

'Emergence' can be analyzed into evolutionary and developmental kinds. The latter can be further analyzed into intensional and extensional kinds of emergence. Evolutionary emergence occurs each time a uniqueness enters the world. Intensional emergence (supervenience) explicity involves the categories of an observer. Extensional emergence (cohesion) is constructed as an attempt to see developmental emergence as a result of the imposition of larger scale constraints on a system. In all cases there is a sudden jump from pre-emergent to post-emegent stages so that the transformation may be said to defy continuous description, which is also hampered by the fact that knowledge of properties of the pre-emergent condition alone does not allow us to predict post-emergent properties.

When Darwin wrote his 'On the origin of species ...' (1859) he focused on evolution as a property of living organisms in interaction with abiotic and biotic elements in the world. This viewpoint is still dominant amongst biologists. For particle physicists and cosmologists evolution refers to a larger scale, ranging from quarks and atoms to galaxies, stars and planets (i.e. Pagels 1985, Hawking 1988). To close the gap between such different viewpoints, a wide range of perspectives on an interdisciplinary understanding of system development has been published (i.e. Teilhard de Chardin 1966, von Bertalanffy 1968, Varela 1979, Prigogine and Stengers 1984, Laszlo 1996). As an integrative concept, the construction of nature from a hierarchy of system layers forms a central tenet in general system research and the stepwise construction of this layered hierarchy can be regarded as an interdisciplinary evolution theory. Surprisingly, the literature offers no unequivocal rules to recognise a multilayer hierarchy in nature. This presents an obstacle for interdisciplinary approaches to evolution. Searching a solution to part of the above hierarchy problem, the present paper is dedicated to the analysis of a special kind of layering in natural systems, which is based on transitions between 'building block' systems. To identify these building blocks, and the transitions from building block x at level A, to building block y at level B, the focus of this study is further limited to 'hypercyclic dynamics' and 'containment'. On the basis of these criteria, a hierarchy is created which shows no possibilities for 'bypasses'. It connects hadrons to atoms, atoms to cells, and cells to neural networks. Implications of this hierarchy for system studies and evolution are discussed. KEYWORDS: system hierarchy, hypercycles, containment, units of evolution, building block systems, autocatalysis, quarks, hadrons, atoms, molecules, cells, neural networks, system transitions, emergent properties, topology

This essay concerns the question of whether evolutionary theories provide a useful approach to understanding the highest potentials of human consciousness and spiritual growth. Finding one-dimensional models overly simplistic, we have proposed a three-level model in which 'states of mind' (level 1), 'states of consciousness' (level 2), and 'structures of consciousness' (level 3) share a hierarchical relationship. States of consciousness (waking states, dream states, etc.) contextualize various states of mind (e.g., sadness, joy, anticipation), and structures of consciousness (mythical, magical, etc.) contextualize states of consciousness. Our model draws upon the grand evolutionary synthesis, a phrase used in some approaches to systems inquiry and complexity theory, and utilizes chaos theory terminology as well, rather than other evolutionary concepts (e.g., biological evolution or historical evolution). KEYWORDS: consciousness, complexity, grand evolutionary synthesis, states of consciousness, states of mind, structures of consciousness, self-organization

The purpose of the paper is to discuss the phenomenon of life through the aspect of consciousness and in particular to analyze the role which consciousness plays in the living state (the L-state for short) as well as the consequences of the development of consciousness for the evolution of living beings. Consciousness is an epiphenomenon of knowledge. The discussion of the role of consciousness in life will have to involve an elucidation of the role of knowledge. This will be done in light of and using the ideas of the theory of the Ecology of Knowledge developed by the author (Wojciechowski, 1975, 1986, 1989). Because of the special nature of consciousness, the paper will deal with the methodological problems of the study of consciousness, and, therefore of the study of the living state. KEYWORDS: consciousness, living state, evolution, system

The result of using Eigen and Winkler's LIFE/DEATH GAME to integrate Rashevksy's social physics and Rapoport's mathematical game theory, synchrony removes the arbitrariness from problems of ethics. It focuses on the primary conflicts between strategies that optimize individual survival and those that optimize survival of groups. According to synchrony, cooperation is an optimal strategy, not because cooperation conforms to some ethical pattern, but because the evolution of our technical societies has made the alternatives to cooperation potentially lethal at all levels of human interaction. Eigen and Winkler offer hypercycles as a possible method of resolving problems that conventional wisdom has labeled 'irreconcilable differences.' Combined with the findings of clinical psychologist Paul Meehl and cultural anthropologist Magoroh Maruyama, Eigen and Winkler's LIFE/DEATH GAME indicates that a pattern of reasoning, called Alpha-H, is not only a formidable obstacle to cooperation, it threatens contemporary societies with extinction through violent conflicts, social upheavals economic collapse or all three together. The Demotion of Alpha-H argues that an inability to deal constructively with change and/or diversity is Alpha-H's fatal flaw. And the removal of gender bias toward opponent processes reasoning is a crucial step toward correcting it. The key concept is the LIFE/DEATH GAME. KEYWORDS: behavior, cognition, game theory, internet, genetics, GO, general systems, social physics, synergetics feminine, jung, wei-ch'i chinese, I ching

The possibility of a 'unified theory of information' which avoids reifying information or attributing agency to it is explored using the patterned processes characteristic of self-organization. Interactions are shown to create information from the level of quantum physics to human societies. The difference between meaningless and meaningful information is explained through the contextualizing role of systems. KEYWORDS: ethics, evolution, information, morals, values

We investigate first several entropy concepts, from static to dynamic entropy. Dynamic entropy is introduced as a measure of predictability. Then the relation between entropy and information is studied. Following Wiener information is considered as a non-physical quantity, not matter or energy. Information is understood as a binary relation between a sender and a receiver. We differentiate between bound and free information. Information can be created by self-organization, historically it is connected with the origin of life. The structure and predictability of informational strings is investigated. For example we study symbolic sequences generated by evolution, as e.g. texts. It is shown that several information carriers show criticality connected with the existence of long-range correlations, long memory in time and historical behaviour (self-tuned criticality). The higher order Shannon entropies and the conditional entropies (dynamical entropies and there limit) are calculated, characteristic scaling laws are found. KEYWORDS: life, bound information, free information, thermodynamic entropy, statistical entropy, Shannon entropy