Cosmology as a subfield of astronomy studies the nature and evolution of the universe by studying the origin and nature of matter and the forces affecting matter.     Cosmology can also be defined as the study of cosmos, the universe as an orderly, harmonious system.  Cosmology in its first sense is often taken to explicate cosmology in its second sense:  From the origins of matter in a “big bang,” impersonal physical forces result in successively more complicated elements and compounds; somehow, when matter achieves a sufficiently high level of chemical complexity in organic compounds, life and its typical characteristics emerge; thus, to understand human origins and evolution, to be “scientific,” physics and chemistry are primary.   However, this perspective contains no conceptual bridge across discontinuities between the dynamics of living and nonliving things and doesn’t address important issues like anticipation or purposiveness.  In this paper, I argue that cosmology in its second sense begin with biology, not physics, focusing on the concept of homeostasis.  If time allows, other concepts will be discussed as well.   

Homeostasis, coordinated physiological processes which maintain steady states through self-righting adjustments, is sometimes described as a mechanical process, analogous to a thermostat in a furnace.  For example, if blood sugar rises too much, mechanisms are called into play that lower the level.  However, the originator of the term, biologist Walter Cannon (1963, 1939), describes homeostasis in his book The Wisdom of the Body as a process pertaining to living rather than mechanical systems.  For our bodies to survive, the individual cells comprising them must survive.  Individual cells are typically provided with nutrients and eliminate waste through their contact with a “fluid matrix,” interstitial fluids that surround them and blood and lymph vessels.  The key to homeostasis is maintaining constancy in the fluid matrix.  A person running, for example, uses up more energy; breathing rate and release of sugar from storage increase to keep the composition of the matrix constant.  To achieve this, structures of the body, that may be distant from each other or in different body systems, act cooperatively in an organized manner.  Homeostasis also involves anticipation.  Mechanisms don’t simply respond to physical changes.  They respond to minor changes/precursors indicating that a change may be coming, cognitions (like an intention to move that signals an impending change in energy needs), etc.  Other important mechanisms include inefficiency and redundancy, a part representing the whole and compensatory mechanisms.   

Homeostasis pertains to the ability of living things to maintain themselves as their behavior and the environment change.  It is a constancy that makes activity or a variety of states possible.  The fluid matrix is like a pivot point around which all else revolves.   Key concepts include an open system with balance among a large number of interacting parts, characterized by intention and anticipation, cooperation, and with parts acting for the good of the whole.  Our relationship to cosmology starts here. 

References

Cannon, W. (1963).  The wisdom of the body.  W.W. Norton: New York.  (Originally published 1939).