Self-organization in nonequilibrium systems has been known for over 50 years. Under nonequilibrium conditions, the state of a system can become unstable and a transition to an organized structure can occur. Such structures include oscillating chemical reactions and spatiotemporal patterns in chemical and other systems. Because entropy and free-energy dissipating irreversible processes generate and maintain these structures, these have been called dissipative structures. Our recent research revealed that some of these structures exhibit organism-like behavior, reinforcing the earlier expectation that the study of dissipative structures will provide insights into the nature of organisms and their origin. In this article, we summarize our study of organism-like behavior in electrically and chemically driven systems. The highly complex behavior of these systems shows the time evolution to states of higher entropy production. Using these systems as an example, we present some concepts that give us an understanding of biological organisms and their evolution.

Self-organization in a voltage-driven nonequilibrium system, consisting of conducting beads immersed in a viscous medium, gives rise to a dynamic tree structure that exhibits wormlike motion. The complex motion of the beads driven by the applied field, the dipole-dipole interaction between the beads and the hydrodynamic flow of the viscous medium, results in a time evolution of the tree structure towards states of lower resistance or higher dissipation and thus higher rates of entropy production. Thus emerges a remarkably organismlike energy-seeking behavior. The dynamic tree structure draws the energy needed to form and maintain its structure, moves to positions at which it receives more energy, and avoids conditions that lower available energy. It also is able to restore its structure when damaged, i.e., it is self-healing. The emergence of energy-seeking behavior in a nonliving complex system that is extremely simple in its construct is unexpected. Along with the property of self-healing, this system, in a rudimentary way, exhibits properties that are analogous to those we observe in living organisms. Thermodynamically, the observed diverse behavior can be characterized as end-directed evolution to states of higher rates of entropy production.

Self-organization in nonequilibrium systems resulting in the formation of dissipative structures has been studied in a variety of systems, most prominently in chemical systems. We present a study of a voltage-driven dissipative structure consisting of conducting beads immersed in a viscous medium of oil. In this simple system, we observed remarkably complex organism-like behavior. The dissipative structure consists of a tree structure that spontaneously forms and moves like a worm and exhibits many features characteristic of living organisms. The complex motion of the beads driven by the applied field, the dipole-dipole interaction between the beads, and the hydrodynamic flow of the viscous medium result in a time evolution of the tree structure towards states of lower resistance or higher dissipation and thus higher rates of entropy production. The resulting end-directed evolution manifests as the tree moving to locations seeking higher current, the current that sustains its structure and dynamics. The study of end-directed evolution in the dissipative structure gives us a means to distinguish the fundamental difference between machines and organisms and opens a path for the formulation of physics of organisms.