"Do we have a free will?" is a question that has been much discussed. Within the frame of the energon theory, however, the edge can be largely taken off this grim discussion. Whether free or not – the result of our free will is not free. No matter if we act one way or another, the structures we obtain are largely traced out. They are dictated from elsewhere. The development of human power as a whole is part of a larger process, which, from the very beginning, was never in control of itself.

To us, who are used to thinking in a self-glorifying manner, this approach seems so unfamiliar that it can only be approached in a roundabout way. As long as we feel separate and distinct, we consider ourselves the masters of our deeds. When following the line of evolution that brought mankind into existence, the rigid tracks we move along become evident. Influenced by the frequently overlapping force fields, our will leads us – whatever it decides – to a so-called "crystallisation" that is mapped out for us.

In the field of biology – particularly in "ecology" – one speaks of the "forming" powers of the environment.¹ The same applies to sociology, where we talk about the "forming" powers of tradition, manners and customs. This, however, is not really meant seriously. We always consider living creatures and in particular human beings to be the subject, the "actor". Inundations, storms and thunderbolts, wars, laws and fashion may probably toss an individual living creature back and forth – but human beings in the end are the ones who decide, who adjust, who create and invent. That is what we believe.

We arrive at a different perspective if we look at the flow of life’s evolution when dealing with the forces of nature. In this process these powers force evolution to go in a certain direction. They define which forms the process of life adopts while slowly moving forward like a myriad of flames. The single individuals in this process are merely vehicles of a will that has been imposed on them. Human beings are capable of reflecting on themselves and of leading their lives one way or another. The process that continues through them is so slow that human beings are not able to see its unyielding inevitability. We think that everything we do and finally achieve is our doing. But it is only the detail that is up to us. As to the rest, we, too, are only small components in the interaction between the process of life and extremely variegated powers acting on it.

The nature of the "will" of living creatures and humankind’s "free will" is quite clearly demonstrated by the chemical processes that constitute the process of life.
 
 

In their development most of these processes are influenced by temperature. If the temperature rises the processes develop faster, if the temperature falls any chemical process slows down. This applies to the anorganic world as well as to all vital processes. A decrease in temperature by 10 degrees means that the vital processes are reduced to half or even to a third of their original rate (van ‘t Hoff’s Equation). The process of life is subject to this influence like a jumping jack: When it gets warmer, invisible powers pull the strings, and the jumping jack vehemently lashes out; when it gets colder, the pull on these strings decreases, the jumping jack moves slowly.

All energons that have not produced any functional unit for their own heat regulation ("poikilothermics") are such jumping jacks.

When the temperature drops below a certain minimum, the wheels of life come to a standstill. When the water in the cell structures freezes, the organism will be destroyed. At that point there remains no possibility whatsoever for an active energy balance. The cells "die".

As a protection against this malignant spear that penetrates into the very centre of the energon, sparing nothing, searching its way into every functional unit, one or another protecting shield was produced. The energons used to produce these shields but the cold controlled the production. Just as predators determine the formation of defence mechanisms directed against them, the cold also forced and controlled the formation of protective devices against it.

It is primarily a matter of behavioural patterns. If the cold strikes the areas we live in the microorganisms of the meadows and open fields start moving towards the forest. They find frost-free shelters underneath the fallen leaves. Snails with shells hide in small openings, bury themselves in the ground. Some close their doors with several mucous membranes which are lined up one after the other, providing an insulating effect. Frogs bury themselves in the mud, caterpillars spin a nest of leaves to protect themselves against the cold. Dozens of spotted salamanders are closely pressed against each other in deep holes in the ground..

In each of these energons a behavioural pattern of self-protection has developed in the course of evolution. The cold steered this development. It did not contribute the least amount of energy for the development of such patterns but it was crucial in the development of their forms. Only animals that possess appropriate behavioural patterns are able to survive in cold zones. All the others –no longer exist in these places.

Along with a drop in temperature, changes in the cells of some animals and plants occur. Free water is bound to the colloids more tightly. In thin membranes and capillaries it crystallises only at a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius. The shield bug can survive in this state of adjustment at a temperature as low as minus 26 degrees Celsius. If exposed to low temperatures in spring, however, it dies at a temperature of only minus 10 degrees Celsius. In Alaska the algae living in the tidal zone can cope with temperatures up to minus 20 degrees by similar changes in the plasma. Deep sea algae which cannot adapt like that die at temperatures of only minus 5 degrees. In this case the behavioural pattern for processes within the body are the ones which neutralise the effects of the cold.

Dragonflies, caddis flies and many bugs survive the winter at the larval stage under water which is the perfect shelter as the temperature never drops below freezing point. Unless the water freezes entirely this is where they find protection. This form of adjustment is based on quite drastic changes in the genetic blueprint: an entire phase of life is transferred to an underwater environment. In springtime this energon then adapts to the new setting and turns into a creature whose habitat is the air.

So far these phenomena have been dealt with by separate scientific branches, but in fact they belong together. The energon as a whole faces the effect of the cold. The various defence mechanisms merely differ as regards the methods. What matters is the overall expenditure necessary for neutralising the spears of the cold.

How things are concerning the individuality of the animal energons is illustrated by the protozoon Amoeba vespertilio. Usually it is 70 mm long. If it continues growing beyond that length, it splits up. This ability to split, however, is lost as soon as the temperature drops. When we keep it at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, it grows to 300 to 400 mm long; consequently its volume multiplies by more than a hundred. This may be considered an advantage for the individual: the enterprise is getting stronger and bigger. This, however, does not depend on the individual. Invisible strings are pulled here and largely determine its fate.

This also applies to many larger animals. At a low temperature their sexual maturity sets in much later. But as the growth process stops as sexual maturity sets in, there are many animals – for example in the Antarctic, where this process sets in at a later point in time – which are much bigger compared to related species. Also here a mechanism which is in no way linked to this life structure and its success steers formation in every single case.
 
 

The "warm-blooded animals" – birds and mammals – have produced a particularly efficient shield for defence. They heat up their bodies and maintain their inner temperature at a constant level by means of feedback.

This way, a significant competitive advantage is gained. While the movements in non-heating competitors get slower and their life spirit deteriorates when the temperature drops, warm-blooded animals remain active. They pay for that with a significant energy expenditure. But the additional benefits are definitely worth it.

This fact, however, also leads to certain complications. When a body grows, its volume increases by a power of three, its surface only a power of 2 (in a cube V equals a³, the surface 6a²). This means that larger bodies have a relatively smaller surface. But as it is the surface via which heat is lost, larger animals are better off. They have a relatively smaller heat loss ("Bergmann’s rule").

In a dog weighing 20 kg the heat loss per kg of body substance is only about half as much as in a dog weighing 3 kg. Consequently, this correspondingly means that smaller animals need to increase their temperature to a larger extent. This also requires increased activity of the lung – but most of all of the heart. Hence smaller animals have a relatively large heart. In an owl weighing about 2 kg the weight of the heart is approximately 5 per mill of their total weight; in a little owl, which is ten times lighter, however, it is 8 per mill. There is an even greater difference between the wandering rat weighing 200 grams (heart weight 4 per mill) and the pygmy mouse weighing only 5 grams (13 per mill). In this context we usually say that the size of the heart is adjusted to the environmental conditions. It would be more precise, however, to say that the effects of the cold lead to a larger heart in small warm-blooded animals.

In some warm-blooded animals the necessary fuel resources) are accumulated inside their bodies, in others outside. The reindeer stores glycogen in the muscles as well as in the liver; it accumulates fat mainly under the skin and so, as an additional advantage, there is an insulating effect. The hamster on the other hand carries up to 10 kilos of cereals into its hole. In burrows of polecats you would find heaps of half-paralysed frogs which are still alive but cannot move an inch. Through one bite in the spine the polecat paralyses the frogs. The meat stock thus remains fresh and cannot crawl away.

This again shows how useless it would be to study the processes that take place inside the body (storage of glycogen and fat) and the behaviour of the body as a whole (bringing in cereals, biting the neck) in different fields of science. Both are methods of providing heat; each of them with its pros and cons. Heating material that is stored within the body always has to be carried around and thus means a certain strain for the individual – but is less prone to getting lost. With separate storage the body is relieved from the burden – but the cache might be forgotten (something that happens to squirrels quite often). As far as the energy balance is concerned, the only thing that matters is the energon has access to the heating material which it needs to survive the cold period, and the question is how much each storage mode costs in the end.

This example also shows that it is entirely insignificant whether a functional unit is connected to the body or not. The energon has to be able to make use of it – that is what matters.

Human beings became even more independent of the cold by wearing clothes and by artificially heating their shells (houses). This, however, is how we usually express ourselves, and it does not really take all actual circumstances into account. It is rather the case that the temperature forces human beings living in cooler regions to use such shelters. If they does possess them, they can survive in these areas, if they do not, they cannot. The additional expenses which in a professional entity or in an business organisation are caused by the necessary shield against the cold (ovens, insulation, heating/fuelling material, etc.) are a perfectly concrete value that can be measured in any case. In animals the building costs of individual structures have hardly ever been measured so far. But also in this case the energy expenses which are necessary to fight the cold represent a concrete percentage in the total balance. If the shield against the cold can be installed at low cost, this is – in both cases - an advantage. How this is achieved in individual cases is of secondary importance.
 
 

Heat is an even worse tyrant. When the temperature increases by 10 degrees, the vital processes take place at a speed two or three times as fast as usual. From a commercial point of view this means an increase in the running costs a factor of two or three; this certainly makes a difference, particularly in periods when no acquisitions are possible. In such a case, the animal or plant energons are forced to spend two or three times as much for unproductive periods. That is extremely strenuous!

In the shell Pecten groenlandicus that lives off the coasts of Greenland at an average depth of 25 metres we see what difference this can make. These layers of the water do not offer much nutrition, but as soon as the shell moves to higher layers which are warmer (and richer in food), the running costs of its metabolism increase to such an extent that the balance becomes negative. As the Danish biologist G. Thorson found, this is the reason why the shell is compelled to settle exactly in this layer between colder and warmer water. Its body lies in the cooler region, and thus it can live more economically; it obtains its food from the higher layers of water.

Even life span is significantly influenced by heat. The life of a fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, at 15 degrees Celsius, starting from emergence of the larva from the egg until the mosquito dies, lasts 124 days on average. At 30 degrees, its life span is reduced to an average of 25 days, which means that it is five times shorter. One might take the view that in fast vital processes the actual life proceeds in a more dense and concentrated way, and also one might say that a mosquito, not having any self-awareness, knows nothing about its existence and thus is not affected by a shorter life span. De facto, however, it can hardly be denied that this means a rigorous interference with life.

The paths of evolution were often winding roads, and individual steps of progress very much depended on external circumstances. Even human evolution gives evidence of this. Our ancestors, the apes, developed in tropical or sub-tropical regions. They lost their fur – from our present point of view – when they started to pursue predatory acquisitive activities in the savannah. When chasing fast animals, the thick fur was too inconvenient and too hot. The hairless predatory apes, in turn, were much less apt to live in cooler regions. But it is specifically in such areas that the functional unit which is the "human brain" developed and attained higher capacities – which is clearly illustrated by the fact that technical progress in the evolution of humankind took place in cooler regions. The bridge to this state was built by the production of the artificial organs called "clothes".
 
 

Not every intruding spear affects every energon. For instance light – an enhancing factor for most energons –, whenever it becomes too intense, has a harmful effect on small organisms. This is one reason why in seawater, plankton sinks down to a depths of 50 metres by the mid of day and returns to the higher layers, which usually provide better acquisitive possibilities, only in the afternoon. Also for the human professional entities light can have a negative effect – like, for example, the acquisitive activities of thieves.

Another example: the salinity In fresh water the absence of salt poses a problem to all organisms living there which have a skin permeable to water: it takes their body minerals. This effect is countered by special processes (osmo-regulation). From the energy point of view these processes are costly. The water fleas and the water hog louse have fixed costs that are two or three times as high as related species of approximately the same size living in brackish water. This has to be made up for by higher revenues. On the other hand, to a chaffinch or a fashion designer the salinity is of no importance whatsoever.

There is, after all, a spear that affects every energon, making no exception, and that causes additional costs not only to every plant and animal but also to every professional entity and every business organisation. I am referring to the force of gravity. There is nothing that can withstand it, nothing that can stop it.

Nowadays, in the textbooks for zoology and botany this "forming power" is hardly ever mentioned. Only when discussing the sensory organs for the perception of gravity it is briefly touched on. The comparison of a leaf of grass to the trunk of an oak or the legs of a spider to those of an elephant, however, makes it plain how incredibly strong the impact of this power on every organic formation is. Only in animals living under water doe buoyancy partly neutralises this power. On land, however, it constitutes a major problem to all energons.

Every part lying on another has weight and has to be carried. How much load a structure can carry is not only determined by its material but generally speaking by its sectional area. If an energon grows, the sectional area of all carrying units increases only by the square, the load that is to be carried, however, increase by the cube. That is why spiders are able to stand on such thin legs, whereas the much bigger elephant needs enormous pillars in order to be able to lift its body above the ground. That is why for a young plant a slim trunk is sufficient, whereas large trees need massive columns. In this respect the force of gravity – caused by the size of our planet – forces the stream of life to remain within certain limits. Only when the energons had overcome the obstacle of being forced to consist of parts that had grown together did this factor lose much of its controlling power. Also human professional entities and business organisations can erect structures only up to a certain height, but they have the possibility to divide their units up, using space as wherever available, and thus – in principle – reach any size they aspire to.

In the field of technology the force of gravity is important in the creation of all kinds of larger structures. In the construction of buildings, of any bridge, but also of all larger machines it has to be taken into account. However, as it constitutes a constant quantity, we have got used to regarding it as a self-evident circumstance.

Only when the problems of space travel came up did this situation change. Today we have to deal with the question as to what characteristics and size devices suitable for the moon have to have and how they have to be dimensioned. What would a means of locomotion, a house or any other facility on a larger or smaller planet – with a different gravitational force – look like?

It is exactly this question that should be asked in the fields of zoology and botany. Which structural features did this power, which is present everywhere and never subsides, impose on the formation of animals and plants?² Which additional costs did it force upon the energons – and which did it save them? What would functionality like on a planet half or twice as big?

One might say the process of life somehow grew into overlapping fields of effect. Each of them forced upon the energons a certain structure, a certain expenditure of energy. Via the means of controlling causality each of these fields also took part in the formation of form and behaviour. The germ cell "human being" was able to confront all these influences far more successfully. Practically speaking, however, this means that the energons formed by it are confronted with even more complicated defence structures. Areas prone to inundation force us to build dams, otherwise there would be no possibility for acquisitive or luxury activities there. The water forces the diver to carry an artificial breathing apparatus with him and to a wear protective suit. Many human beings fight their way up to the coldest regions of the Arctic – but only if their energy potential is big enough to produce the protective structures needed there. Nowadays, spaceships leave the earth’s atmosphere, and nations send functional units to other planets. But this, too, is only possible if these energons have the means necessary to work as a protective shield against forces – in this case particularly the force of gravity.

Environmental factors thus interfere from all sides with the energons’ developmental flow and in the energon itself lead to a kind of crystallisation. They control the formation of functional units which are directed against themselves. Wherever energons do not succeed in producing the appropriate vehicles, there is stagnation in the evolutionary flow. In cases where they are succesful, the flow continues³.
 
 

In the very same manner the environment artificially created by human beings reverberates on them⁴. Just like the force of gravity, tradition, customs and laws act just as invisibly on the energons from all sides and lead to additionally necessary structures and behavioural patterns.

The rules of politeness and consideration force us to take or to desist from certain actions, which appears in the balance of acquisition efforts as an expense entry. The humans’ aesthetic sense and fashion force structural elements upon very many acquisitive organs (products) which they otherwise would not have. Because of customs and rituals human beings are pushed into channels which quite often put a certain strain on their energons. Sundays, holidays, peer and class distinctions, habitual meal times, styles of education, of conversation and behaviour compel them to respect certain limits and guidelines. The laws of a country invade the utmost privacy of each one of us. In the labyrinth of interlinkages these constitute invisible but thick walls. And to make things worse, there is a vast quantity of foreign interests influencing the human germ cell, awakening desires in it, making it dependent, winning it as a buyer, wanting to turn it into a source of energy for others.

Those and other fields of power (religion and the repercussions of our technical tools belong to these fields as well) significantly determine life and power structures of the energons formed by human beings. In this network our free will oscillates – and unavoidably leads to results that are not results of our will but are forced upon us.
 
 

For the balance of the individual energons both predatory as well as interfering influences are equally important; they hamper or jeopardise the energon. No matter what each of them may look like – they have to be protected. Whatever the functional unit designed for this purpose may look like – in the end it serves the same purpose.

So, in order to determine the competitive value, one can add up all defence mechanisms and the costs caused by them. The difference – the impact of the predators is directed towards a certain target, those of the other interfering or threatening environmental influences, on the other hand, are not – is functionally speaking of minor importance. Very often the same functional unit – for instance, a protective shell – both keeps off enemies as well as interfering influences.

In the first part of my book I showed that three criteria, expenses, precision and quickness, provide values on the one hand in the developmental period and on the other hand in the three typical phases of the acquisitive period, – resulting in a total of twelve values – which give us important information on the competitive power of the energon. Not every value is relevant for each energon – but each of them in principle has to be examined and considered.

When doing this, we first measure the energon as a whole. We obtain more precise values when we define different groups of functional units that are functionally related and apply the twelve standards to each group.

The first group represents the expenses as a whole that are directly related to acquisitive activity. The second group we are discussing here: the combination of all functional units and all effects that serve the purpose of defence against predators and interfering environmental influences.

As far as the costs are concerned, there is little need to prove that they, too, are very important for defence. If an energon succeeds in neutralising the same hostile effect at lower costs, this eases the strain on its energy balance.

Another factor which almost always plays an important role is the one of precision. If a predator or an interfering factor can be warded off ninety times out of a hundred – at the same cost –, this would be better than if it could do so only eighty times. How fast the defence process , however, may or may not play a role. In the defence against predators it quite often tips the balance between being or not being; in the defence against interfering influences in comparison, it may play only a minor role as regards the factors of expense and precision. Here, too, there are correlations that may turn out differently depending on the environmental circumstances.

Also here it would make sense to asses the developmental period, the acquisitive phases, the non-acquisitive phases and possible phases of rest separately. In each of these stages the energons are confronted with a lot of very different problems as regards their defence against enemies and interfering factors. In resting phases the energons are particularly endangered by their enemies. During the developmental stage, however, they have to face other influences. Longer acquisitive actions increase the risk of falling victim to enemies.

In economics usually no distinction is made between acquisitive risk and danger from enemies or interfering factors. According to Oberparleitner’s definition, a risk is any possibility outside the sphere of will and power, which by its occurrence or non-occurrence is capable of jeopardising the success of some performance. Following this definition, risk is simply anything that has a hampering effect on commercial performance⁵.

Others base their definition on the planning activity typical of all human form of acquisition, and define risk as the "measure of deviation from a plan" (Wittmann), as the "distance between the data of a plan and factual data" (Eucken) or as the "occurrence of a case which was not in accordance with the objective" (Krelle). Eventually, also the difference between "internal" and "external" dangers was used; Walther, for instance, distinguishes between "production" and "entrepreneurial risk"⁶.

From the point of view of the energon theory, we need to differentiate between acquisitive activity and defence against interfering factors. The acquisitive risk is a result of the relation between the key and the keyhole. The more precise the latter is, the smaller is the risk. The risk from interference or enemies, on the other hand, results from the shield-spear relation – from a trade-off on a completely different front.

These two risks are not identical, but are significant in relation to each other. A high acquisitive risk is not necessarily accompanied by a high interference risk. If a machine has a high output, the acquisitive precision is low – but not at all influenced by interfering factors. If the interference risk, on the other hand, is high, the acquisitive risk almost always increases as well.

Insurance companies which practically cover risks differentiate perfectly in accordance with the energon theory: insurance against storms, hail, earthquakes, looting, theft, robbery and fraud clearly cover the risks arising from environmental factors and from predators. Insurance policies against acquisitive disability in old age, against unemployment, transport damage, breakdown of machinery, credit loss and disruption of business activity equally are clearly defined safeguards against acquisitive risks. Even in fire and accident insurance, which covers a mixed risk, the insurance policy shows that the corresponding distinctions are made. If in a company processes take place which involve a risk of fire, the insurance premium is raised – as the interference risk is higher. The same applies to accident insurance contracts when the insured person has a dangerous job, i. e. when his acquisitive risk increases.
 
 

The defence sector – as a whole – thus provides, just as the acquisitive sector does, twelve types of data relevant for the assessment of all energon types. At this point, though, some sort of correction has to be inserted.

In order to simplify my explanation I have so far included the acquisition of substances in the energy acquisition. This is in principle possible, although we obtain more precise values if we look at these two acquisitive actions separately. A very clear conceptual distinction is provided by the fact that energy acquisition always has to lead to an increase in the free, usable energy potential, whereas each acquisition of substances always uses up free energy, thus reducing the potential.

The closer we get to the processes on a molecular level, the harder – or even the more impossible – it is to separate them. In animals, too, this separation can only be made by means of estimates: their food intake supplies them with both energy and substances. In plants the separation is much more obvious. Plastides clearly are functional units in the process of energy acquisition, roots and the inter-cellular system are primarily such in the acquisition of substances ("primarily", that is because the obtained oxygen has free valences, and so also here energy is acquired along with the substance). In a production plant, however, the two functional circles clearly diverge. The acquisition of energy – the production and use of the acquisitive organs – definitely is part of the responsibility of the divisions for "production" and "sales", the acquisition of substances, on the other hand, runs under "purchase".

So, if we want to program a computer for the assessment of competitiveness, we can calculate more precisely if the acquisition of energy and substances is kept distinct as far as possible. This is also justifiable insofar as substances are necessary not only for the acquisition activity but also for each growth process.

This, however, means that by now we have arrived at as many as three separate groups of factors with twelve measurable values each that can, even must, be used for assessing the level of competitiveness.

There still are several others. But before we go into these, we have to turn to the "parts" of the energons again – the functional units. In the last paragraphs we have continually dealt with influencing factors which control the evolutionary development of the energons. What does this process look like in detail? Where do these influences have their effect?
 
 

Back to the Table of Contents

Continue to "Functional expansion"
 
 

Comments:

¹ The current study has emerged from this branch of science, particularly influenced by the presentations of R. Hesse and F. Dorflein in their work “Tierbau – Tierleben”, Jena 1943. Many of my statements derive from this book.
² Plants provide their seeds preferably with fat as vehicles for the energy they need for their development. Thus, they become lighter, which enhances their proliferation by means of the wind; still with this kind of storage more energy is lost than if storage took place via carbohydrates. The spear “gravitation” thus forces these plants to adopt an uneconomical procedure.
³ The basic concept of the energon theory has to be taken into account in all these considerations: it is not the producer who dictates the structure related to time and space necessary for an energon, but rather the circumstances which have absolutely nothing to do with the production process. Not a drop of the influencing energy enters this developmental flow.
⁴ This is the topic Marshall McLuhan is concerned with. See appendix III.
⁵ K. Oberparleitner, “Funktionen und Risiken des Warenhandels”, Vienna 1955
⁶ F Philipp, “Risiko und Risikopolitik”, Stuttgart 1967.