Emergence of the Wisdom of the Body (WOB)

WOB is a medical metaphor accounting for the fact that we are unconscious of the 99.999%  occurrences in our body. They proceed by themselves without our interference. What we regard as our free will   affects only marginally  this amazing universe.  Despite our ignorance we are pretty well  alive. Many (if not most) of our diseases are self healing. In order to discuss rationally this amazing gift of our organism to keep us alive,  we need a nice metaphor,  WOB.

Aristotle called it soul. It resides in animals and plants and is mortal. Yet soul,  also  a metaphor,    serves other  purposes as well. Hindus favor an  immortal soul. Catholics need it to drive sinners into Hell. Descartes regarded the organism as a complex machine with an immortal  soul to handle  some non mechanistic properties of our body.  Bergson called it élan vital and so on. I prefer WOB since it is devoid of metaphysical or religious connotations.

Actually WOB has two meanings: 1. The set of processes in the body, and 2 Their optimal control. It is an attribute of complexity and emerges with it. When sperm  and egg unite, each is equipped with a relatively simple WOB  whose complexity is still enormous. During the coming years the organism becomes more and more complex,  its WOB emerges and gets smarter.

I was pleased to realize that with two interacting CA I can simulate WOB and illustrate what the Aristotelian soul might be.
 
Soul and complexity
WOB
WOB

Back to complexity index