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Optimality
The last experiments illustrated a proliferon which
always seeks steady state (attractor), called here a solution. When
perturbed it proceeds from solution to solution.
While perturbation threatens its existence, a solution sustains it.
We investigated two kinds of perturbation: Excessive
demand and injury. Both drove the proliferon
to new solutions. This capacity to attain a solution is called Wisdom
of the Body.
In the last three experiments the proliferon was injured applying different ways to repair itself. Each repair ended up with a different solution ( v. Repair , Repair-1, Repair-2 ). Which one might be the best? The following figure depicts five proliferon states: 0. Initial state, 1. Injury, 2-4. Repair. Three parameters were measured in each state: 1. Mean daily cell production, 2. Mean resources / day. 3. Mean daily resource accumulation. The normalized sum of the three parameters is on the right.
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In order to best sustain its existence
the proliferon ought to maximize all three
parameters, which is impossible since the CA continually interact.
Since repair involves resource exchange
between CA, the two last parameters seem more vital than the first.
With more resources the proliferon can handle more dangerous perturbations. This capacity to withstand a threat is called
here tolerance. The
more resources a proliferon has the higher its tolerance.
Health and tolerance
From the perspective of A
New Kind of Medicine, health is equivalent to a solution,
and tolerance is a measure of health. The higher a tolerance the
healthier a person is. It is striking that injury drives the proliferon
to a healthier state from which it might proceed to Repair-3 or
better to Repair-1, which is the healthiest
Creativity
Each solution cannot be foreseen and is
therefore creative. Creativity is driven by an external stimulus
which perturbs the proliferon. Without it the proliferon
would remain in state 0. Thus,
evolution is an ongoing creative process proceeding
from solution to solution, driven by the environment, .
The context of tolerance
Repair-3 is a solution with a low tolerance. Suppose now that CA-2
and CA-3 were small
(s. p. >=10 ),
the proliferon would fail to mobilize enough resources to
restructure CA-2. In other words it would not be able to attain
the solution marked by Repair-1 and Repair-2. In such circumstances
Repair-3 would become the healthiest solution.
The proliferon illustrates the basic tenets of
A New kind of Medicine:
1. The organism maintains
homeorhesis (solution).
2. At each instant it creates the most optimal solution.
3. The capacity of the organism to attain the best solution is called
the Wisdom of the Body (WOB).
4. Disease is the best solution in circumstances.
5. The outcome of a disease depends on the organism’s tolerance.