The Selfish Biosphere: Unlocking Life's Mystery

By Igor Krichtafovitch

Our Hypothesis on the Biosphere as a Single Organism is the only plausible and non-contradictive explanation of all aspects of the living world. It is the KEY to Life.

It is based on the available facts and does not deny any of the scientific findings. It explains every aspect, from life emergence to the future of our Biosphere. 

The Hypothesis is materialistic by nature. 

The Biosphere has natural origins and later acquired intelligence and creativity. Biological evolution is directed by the Biosphere. All new creatures, from complex molecules and cells to the most advanced thinking animals, are designed and made by Its mind.

Evolution is a logical extension of the Biosphere’s need to keep Its living "household" under control and in balance. All living creatures, from viruses to multicellular organisms, are creations and creators of the Biosphere and all Its organisms.

These living formations are embraced by the global information network and exchange information on this all-encompassing level. The physical shells of individual information blobs (our bodies) expire, but the information itself remains at the Biosphere’s disposal forever. It will be used by future generations. After 3.5 billion years of constant development, the Biosphere has reached a fork in the road. Humanity could be replaced by more advanced species or could take control into its own hands. Our main concept should give a boost to the study of life. Darwinism and Creationism of all kinds should give a way to a new look at our living world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Jul 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781977266354

Igor Krichtafovitch

Igor Krichtafovitch was born in Ukraine. He holds PhD and DSc. degrees. He is an internationally recognized expert with a Hirsсh index of 40 (the average for American professors is about 20). He is the author of multiple international publications in the following fields: High voltage electrical engineering; Combustion control; Air purification; Humor theory; Biological evolution; Essays on science, religion, and travel; Poetry. He holds more than 200 international patents and has established businesses in the US and China.  

Book preview

1. Introduction

Hello, readers. I am Igor Krichtafovitch, a scientist, inventor, and writer.

I spent the first half of my professional life in the Soviet Union, in the territory that is now called Ukraine. There I received a Ph.D. and D.Sc. in electricity and magnetism. I was a recognized leader in the field of high-voltage power supplies.

The technologies developed in my laboratory were successfully implemented in different fields. Some of the gadgets made during these turbulent years were held by intrepid cosmonauts in outer space.

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and science fell out of favor.

Three years later, a serendipitous event occurred, and I had the opportunity to continue my career in the U.S.

In the U.S. (Washington state), new technologies in the air purification and combustion industries had been invented and put into practice.

The first one led to the creation of the most efficient air purifiers for homes, offices, and cars. They are currently being manufactured in the U.S. and China.

The second one made it possible to burn fuel with a much lower level of NOx emission than any other relevant technology in previous decades. There are more than 200 international patents bearing my name, including 75 U.S. patents.

And that is just half the story.

In my spare time, I came up with first scientific theory of humor, and it was published. This enigmatic phenomenon has been intensely studied by many great philosophers and thinkers. I could mention many names, including Plato, Aristotle, T. Hobbes, I. Kant, A. Schopenhauer, S. Freud, H. Bergson, G. Hegel, and others with gratitude and admiration. Their efforts brought us closer to understanding why people laugh. But a complete picture was elusive.

My theory completed this study. It is not a comprehensive description of all aspects and expressions of laughter. Instead, it provides the reader with the KEY to the nature of humor. It even resulted in a scientific and verifiable Formula of Humor:

EH = PE * C/Tp + BM

To learn more, see my book; it is available on Amazon:

But my biggest passion has always been the science of life.

The book you are reading is the continuation of a previously published book (2017), articles, and conference talks written and delivered over the past five years.

I believe that now is the time to shed new light on the origin of life (OoL) and evolutionary processes. The current situation is crying out for rethinking and revision from a strictly scientific but multidisciplinary point of view. This book has also resulted in an evolution formula:

F (n) = F (n-1) + F (n-2)

The reader will find in it the KEY to comprehending life in its entirety. Whether you are a hard-core scientist or a genuine believer, this book will give you a better and deeper understanding of the subject. You are going to learn what life was, is, and will be in the future.

2. The Audacity to Express

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back — Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

You may be wondering what an expert in the electromagnetic field can contribute to life science?

Hmm, this is a $64,000 question. What brought Charles Darwin, who studied theology at Christ’s College, to this field of study? Why did Nobel prize winner German physicist Erwin Schrödinger write a seminal book called What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell?

For what reason did Russian-American physicist George Gamow solve DNA coding, and Alan Turing, an English mathematician, venture to write the article The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis? Doesn’t it surprise you that Johann Goethe, a poet and playwright, is the author of The Metamorphosis of Plants? In fact, the study of life is not limited to biology. It requires a multidisciplinary approach in such areas as physics, including quantum physics, computer science, information theory, telemechanics (remote control), radio engineering, electrodynamics, electrostatics, the theory of probability, the theory of cellular automata, semiotics, etc. And last but not the least, we cannot imagine life processes without electricity. English poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley once said that a man is a mass of electrified flesh. The poet was not far from the truth. All the functions of cells are activated by ions. What is an ion, you may ask? That’s easy. An ion is just a positively or negatively charged atom, that’s all.

The author of this book is not a biologist. But my story is based on facts. All of them are taken and analyzed at face value, with no judgment. As for their analysis, only one tool will be employed. It is called logic. In this field, we all are on a par with biologists, physicists, and every other human being.

Fortunately, many creative people are polymaths with broad interests in different fields.

The author of this book spent a whole lifetime (well almost) studying electricity and magnetism, life-driving forces.

Think for yourselves: is life science not the most important thing? Shouldn’t all other fields of science, like physics, chemistry, mathematics, and economics, only play a supportive, complementary role in the study of this most (if only) important branch of research?

Yes, yes, and yes!

That may explain the author’s endless curiosity and justify this book’s appearance. If you share these sentiments, dear reader, come follow me!

3. On the Shoulders of Giants

"The learner always begins by finding fault,

but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything."

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

3.1 Preface

If I were an ion, I would be a positive one.

I love everything and everyone. Love is a profitable investment. Many of us would love to soar like a bird, but gravity does not permit us. My hate (should I unleash it) of gravity and other physical phenomena would make me a gloomy and unhappy person. I’d better be fond of gravity. The study of life on Earth is a contradictive field. Ordinary people and experts do not share the same view. Some of us lean toward science, while others prefer faith. The debates between these two groups are controversial and more often end in bitter disputes and insults than in mutual agreement. A deaf ear is not the best tool when searching for the truth.

So, I love science and I love theology. Science, as a rule, is viewed as incompatible with religion and even in opposition to it. Could those radical views be wrong?

3.2 The Materialistic Evolution Concept

There