University of Cambridge physicist explores synergetic patterns beyond conventional 'theory of everything'

Is there meaning and purpose in the universe? This often-debated question is the subject of a June 13 paper by Nobel laureate Brian Josephson and available as a preprint from Research Gate.

Josephson is a British theoretical physicist and professor emeritus of physics at the University of Cambridge. He's known for his work on tunneling superconductors. In 1973 he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with two other physicists for his prediction of this process.

He extends the concept of a mind-like process underlying the order in the natural world to a more complex view. Josephson looks at parallels between "spontaneously fluctuating equilibrium states and life processes." 

He compares, for example, the complex systems behind the laws of physics with the behavior of atoms and molecules in macroscopic descriptions of hydrodynamics. 

"Rather than the laws of physics being fixed in time, they emerge progressively in ways related to their effectiveness at achieving particular goals implying, in contrast to conventional physics, the involvement at a fundamental level of meaning and purpose," he wrote.

Josephson looks at the way living systems manage complexity by organizing "groups of entities interacting with each other" as functional units known as synergies. Using natural language as an example, he argues that this involves coordination dynamics, which is like an "evolving collection of experts working in harmony with each other."

A key concept is that a system must have both variability and inflexibility, complementing each other. Crystallization is the example Josephson gives of how that works in nature.  A "unit cell can be viewed as a collection (synergy), whose expertise consists in being able to organize the movements of other atoms in such a way that copies of the original are the outcome," he wrote. "What we envisage is a more complicated version of the same, with a range of experts working in harmony with each other."

The example of language

Josephson discusses the phenomenon of language as an example of how this might work, specifically looking at a computer simulation of language by Terry Winograd. Language is a highly effective system although it is very complex. He characterizes it as "a collection of experts (the individual functions defined in the software) working in harmony with each other, in that each expert is able to achieve its specified goals without disrupting the performances of the other experts."

This analysis involves a system that allows for "progressive evolution, moving from a relatively stable situation, involving one complicated effective mechanism, to another one based upon a modified equally effective one, with an intermediate exploratory mode for which the standards demanded are less high."

Observing why language fits into his view, Josephson told Current Science Daily. "The fact that language works so effectively points to the existence of subtleties that are not well understood at present."

The problem with conventional physics

Asked to describe the problem he was addressing in the article, Josephson said, "The basic motivation is that current physics focuses on the behavior of matter, and misses out mind and meaning, which just do not show up in physics experiments."

He also elaborated on why he thinks the conventional view of physics leads to a "meaningless universe."

"That’s what people such as Steven Weinberg concluded," Josephson said. "On the other hand people like Paul Davies think this is a wrong conclusion." 

Davies discusses this in a January 2003 article in The Guardian on the subject. 

How will conventional physics move from its current state to the new direction that Josephson foresees? In the future, modeling of these ideas should be possible, similar to the way "brain processes and neural networks" are now modeled, he writes. 

He concludes, "It is hoped that future explorations, possibly involving computer simulations, will clarify the issues."  

Regarding the implications of his views, Josephson said, "An understanding of things that are beyond current science, including probably validating intelligent design."

A short video talk on his concept can be found here. 

Brian D. Josephson, Beyond the 'theory of everything' paradigm: Synergetic patterns and the order of the natural world. June 13, 2021, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28064.71684