Chance, Calculation and Life

Chance, Calculation and Life brings together 16 original papers from the colloquium of the same name, organized by the International Cultural Center of Cerisy in 2019.

From mathematics to the humanities and biology, there are many concepts and questions related to chance. What are the different types of chance? Does chance correspond to a lack of knowledge about the causes of events, or is there a truly intrinsic and irreducible chance? Does chance preside over our decisions? Does it govern evolution? Is it at the origin of life? What part do chance and necessity play in biology?

This book answers these fundamental questions by bringing together the clear and richly documented contributions of mathematicians, physicists, biologists and philosophers who make this book an incomparable tool for work and reflection.

Thierry Gaudin is an engineer at MINES ParisTech and holds a doctorate in Information Sciences and Communication from Paris Nanterre University, France. He is a widely renowned expert in innovation policy and has worked with the OECD, the European Commission and the World Bank.

Marie-Christine Maurel is Professor at Sorbonne University and a researcher at the Institute of Systematics, Evolution, Biodiversity, MNHN, Paris, France.

Jean-Charles Pomerol is Professor Emeritus at Sorbonne University, France. He is a specialist in Decision Support Systems and former project leader for information technology in the Engineering Sciences Department at the CNRS. He was formerly in charge of the Artificial Intelligence laboratory at UPMC, Paris, as well as the President of UPMC between 2006 and 2011.

Preface xi
Thierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL, Jean-Charles POMEROL

Introduction xv
Thierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL, Jean-Charles POMEROL

Part 1. Randomness in all of its Aspects 1

Chapter 1. Classical, Quantum and Biological Randomness as Relative Unpredictability 3
Cristian S. CALUDE and Giuseppe LONGO

1.1. Introduction 3

1.1.1. Brief historical overview 4

1.1.2. Preliminary remarks 5

1.2. Randomness in classical dynamics 6

1.3. Quantum randomness 8

1.4. Randomness in biology 15

1.5. Random sequences: a theory invariant approach 21

1.6. Classical and quantum randomness revisited 24

1.6.1. Classical versus algorithmic randomness 24

1.6.2. Quantum versus algorithmic randomness 26

1.7. Conclusion and opening: toward a proper biological randomness 27

1.8. Acknowledgments 30

1.9. References 30

Chapter 2. In The Name of Chance 37
Gilles PAGÈS

2.1. The birth of probabilities and games of chance 37

2.1.1. Solutions 38

2.1.2. To what end? 40

2.2. A very brief history of probabilities 41

2.3. Chance? What chance? 42

2.4. Prospective possibility 45

2.4.1. LLN + CLT + ENIAC = MC 45

2.4.2. Generating chance through numbers 46

2.4.3. Going back the other way 48

2.4.4. Prospective possibility as master of the world? 50

2.5. Appendix: Congruent generators, can prospective chance be periodic? 53

2.5.1. A little modulo n arithmetic 53

2.5.2. From erratic arithmetic to algorithmic randomness 56

2.5.3. And, the winner is... Mersenne Twister 623.. 60

2.6. References 61

Chapter 3. Chance in a Few Languages 63
Clarisse HERRENSCHMIDT

3.1. Classical Sanskrit 64

3.2. Persian and Arabic 65

3.3. Ancient Greek 66

3.4. Russian 67

3.5. Latin 67

3.6. French 69

3.7. English 71

3.8. Dice, chance and the symbolic world 72

3.9. References 77

Chapter 4. The Collective Determinism of Quantum Randomness 79
François VANNUCCI

4.1. True or false chance 79

4.2. Chance sneaks into uncertainty 81

4.3. The world of the infinitely small 82

4.4. A more figurative example 84

4.5. Einstein’s act of resistance 86

4.6. Schrödinger’s cat to neutrino oscillations 87

4.7. Chance versus the anthropic principle 90

4.8. And luck in life? 92

4.9. Chance and freedom 94

Chapter 5. Wave-Particle Chaos to the Stability of Living 97
Stéphane DOUADY

5.1. Introduction 97

5.2. The chaos of the wave-particle 97

5.3. The stability of living things 104

5.4. Conclusion 107

5.5. Acknowledgments 108

5.6. References 108

Chapter 6. Chance in Cosmology: Random and Turbulent Creation of Multiple Cosmos 109
Michel CASSÉ

6.1. Is quantum cosmology oxymoronic? 109

6.2. Between two realities – at the entrance and exit – is virtuality 120

6.3. Who will sing the metamorphoses of this high vacuum? 120

6.4. Loop lament 121

6.5. The quantum vacuum exists, Casimir has met it 122

6.6. The generosity of the quantum vacuum 122

6.7. Landscapes 126

6.8. The good works of Inflation 128

6.9. Sub species aeternitatis 129

6.10. The smiling vacuum 130

Chapter 7. The Chance in Decision: When Neurons Flip a Coin 133
Mathias PESSIGLIONE

7.1. A very subjective utility 133

7.2. A minimum rationality 134

7.3. There is noise in the choices 135

7.4. On the volatility of parameters 137

7.5. When the brain wears rose-tinted glasses 138

7.6. The neurons that take a vote 140

7.7. The will to move an index finger 142

7.8. Free will in debate 143

7.9. The virtue of chance 144

7.10. References 145

Chapter 8. To Have a Sense of Life: A Poetic Reconnaissance 147
Georges AMAR

8.1. References 157

Chapter 9. Divine Chance 159
Bertrand VERGELY

9.1. Thinking by chance 159

9.2. Chance, need: why choose? 160

9.3. When chance is not chance 162

9.4. When chance comes from elsewhere 166

Chapter 10. Chance and the Creative Process 169
Ivan MAGRIN-CHAGNOLLEAU

10.1. Introduction 169

10.2. Chance 170

10.3. Creation 173

10.4. Chance in the artistic creative process 176

10.5. An art of the present moment 179

10.6. Conclusion 181

10.7. References 182

Part 2. Randomness, Biology and Evolution 185

Chapter 11. Epigenetics, DNA and Chromatin Dynamics: Where is the Chance and Where is the Necessity? 187
David SITBON and Jonathan B. WEITZMAN

11.1. Introduction 187

11.2. Random combinations 187

11.3. Random alterations 188

11.4. Beyond the gene 189

11.5. Epigenetic variation 190

11.6. Concluding remarks 192

11.7. Acknowledgments 193

11.8. References 193

Chapter 12. When Acquired Characteristics Become Heritable: The Lesson of Genomes 197
Bernard DUJON

12.1. Introduction 197

12.2. Horizontal genetic exchange in prokaryotes 199

12.3. Two specificities of eukaryotes theoretically oppose horizontal gene transfer 200

12.4. Criteria for genomic analysis 201

12.5. Abundance of horizontal transfers in unicellular eukaryotes 202

12.6. Remarkable horizontal genetic transfers in pluricellular eukaryotes 203

12.7. Main mechanisms of horizontal genetic transfers 204

12.8. Introgressions and limits to the concept of species 207

12.9. Conclusion 208

12.10. References 208

Chapter 13. The Evolutionary Trajectories of Organisms are Not Stochastic 213
Philippe GRANDCOLAS

13.1. Evolution and stochasticity: a few metaphors 213

13.2. The Gouldian metaphor of the “replay” of evolution 214

13.3. The replay of evolution: what happened 215

13.4. Evolutionary replay experiments 217

13.5. Phylogenies versus experiments 218

13.6. Stochasticity, evolution and extinction 219

13.7. Conclusion 219

13.8. References 220

Chapter 14. Evolution in the Face of Chance 221
Amaury LAMBERT

14.1. Introduction 221

14.2. Waddington and the concept of canalization 224

14.3. A stochastic model of Darwinian evolution 228

14.3.1. Redundancy and neutral networks 228

14.3.2. A toy model 229

14.3.3. Mutation-selection algorithm 231

14.4. Numerical results 231

14.4.1. Canalization 231

14.4.2. Target selection 234

14.4.3. Neighborhood selection 235

14.5. Discussion 238

14.6. Acknowledgments 239

Chapter 15. Chance, Contingency and the Origins of Life: Some Historical Issues 241
Antonio LAZCANO

15.1. Acknowledgments 246

15.2. References 246

Chapter 16. Chance, Complexity and the Idea of a Universal Ethics 249
Jean-Paul DELAHAYE

16.1. Cosmic evolution and advances in computation 250

16.2. Two notions of complexity 251

16.3. Biological computations 252

16.4. Energy and emergy 253

16.5. What we hold onto 254

16.6. Noah knew this already! 254

16.7. Create, protect and collect 255

16.8. An ethics of organized complexity 255

16.9. Not so easy 256

16.10. References 258

List of Authors 261

Index 265

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.