Beauty of life in dynamical systems: an aesthetic viewpoint of life and teaching resources for students

Information plays a key role in life and complex biological systems. It is hypothesized that information processing capabilities distinguish life from other so-called non-living matter. Dynamical systems underlie and can be used to represent many complex lifelike systems. Dynamical systems and information processing may be the hallmarks of lifelike systems. We combine dynamical systems with a computational framework to generate art. The framework can be used to generate aesthetically appealing forms of lifelike systems. Our work suggests that we may need an "aesthetic sense" to recognize life we have never seen before. This aesthetic view also allows us to appreciate the beauty of lifelike systems, life-forms around us, and their intimate connections with dynamical systems. This perspective can give us a sense that every part of the Universe computes and that the entire Universe is alive and has intelligence. We hope this will give humanity a new sense of purpose, help us appreciate our place in the Universe and also give a renewed thrust to conservation efforts to save our planet. This paper also presents teaching resources for students in schools and undergraduate institutions. It explains the role of information processing in life and suggests how computational simulations may yield insights into questions related to lifelike systems. We hope our teaching resources will be especially useful in developing nations that are rapidly modernizing their education systems. Introduction Information plays a critical role in life and complex systems.