Developing Insights into the Design of the Simplest Self-Replicator and Its Abstract Complexity, Part 3

The Metaphysics of an Artificial SSR and the Origin of Life Problem

Abstract

This is the last in a three-part series investigating the internals of the simplest possible self-replicator (SSR). Part 1 and Part 2 investigated the necessary design and possible physical implementation of such a self-replicator. This last installment compares potential man-made self-replication to the existing natural self-replicators on Earth, present in the structured hierarchy of ecosystems throughout the world. The insights offered by this series are used to reflect upon possible scenarios for the origin of life and their implications.