Biomedical subjects

O E Rossler

Publications and source records attributed to O E Rossler.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Ultraperspective and endophysics.

Ultraperspective is the capability of human beings to step into the shoes of another person. Endophysics is the science of those physical properties of the world which exist not from the outside but only form the inside. Both have in common the adoption of an 'exterior' position. In the one case, the exteriority is 'horizontal', in the other, 'vertical'. Ultraperspective is a macroscopic concept, endophysics a microscopic one. Both can be implemented in computer models. Novel experiments can be set up in either domain: animals acquiring the status of human persons, and objective features of the physical world acquiring the status of an observer-specific mirage. Mead an Levinas, and Einstein and Bohr, are the protagonists. In the age of computer-assisted enlightenment, a new look at the ethical roots of science appears justified.

Ethics↗

PubMed1995

Slower aging in women: a proposed evolutionary explanation.

Differential female longevity is so far unexplained in evolutionary terms. The theory of evolutionarily necessary aging which goes back to Wallace appears to be up to the task. In this theory, aging minimizes competition between forebear and offspring. The aging equation which is implicit contains the well-known empirical Gompertz law as a special case. Moreover, its parameters are automatically sex-specific. It is shown that the slower aging of the female members of two species of mammals, humans and sperm whales, can be 'predicted' on the basis of this equation. A prediction of effective human monogamy under archaic conditions is obtained as a corollary. The analogous if opposite prediction for sperm whales (strong promiscuity) is empirically testable.

Aging↗

PubMed1987

Chaos in coupled optimizers.

Autonomous optimizers, a subclass of dynamical systems, arise on the intersection between artificial intelligence and deductive biology. Two simple optimizers coupled symmetrically à la Rashevsky give rise to chaotic attractors and (possibly) cloud attractors. More complicated autonomous optimizers (endowed with internal simulation) will be subject to more complicated interactional function changes. Humanistic ideas of Mead and Bateson may come within scientific reach. Conversely, the physical measurement problem may turn out to belong partly to the humanities.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1986

Computer faces: the human Lorenz matrix.

Realistic Ekman-type faces were generated by a computer program. Twenty primary parameters (muscle tensions and opening factors), each continuous, were used. Non-linear combination of the primary parameters permits the generation of meaningful faces each governed by a single combined parameter (intensity-parameter). Five major meaningful faces were distinguished, "friendliness", "surprise", "disgust", "anger" and "grief". In contrast to the experiments of Ekman, who combined subregions of photographed meaningful faces by hand, mixing can be done in the computer both more easily and, it turns out, more naturally. Mixed facial expressions in an animal were first drawn in matrix form by Lorenz. A consistent interpretation is possible if the linearly superposed displays are assumed to indicate the state of an autonomous optimizer with n linearly independent subfunctionals. An instant display of a vector in n-dimensional space using faces was already proposed by Chernoff. The present faces have the asset that only "natural" parameters are used. This means that no longer only a single point in n-dimensional space can be displayed, but also a meaningful succession of such points--that is, a whole trajectory.

Computers↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Chaos in physiology.

A bird's eye view of the role of nontrivial dynamical phenomena in physiological systems is presented. Many levels in the physiological hierarchy are affected. It appears that physiology has a particularly high affinity to chaos. The old central place of physiology in the circle of sciences can perhaps be regained if the two disciplines join resources. Even physics may turn out to be dependent on the chaotic micro dynamics of the brain.

Animals↗