title: [Reflections on the problem of "discreteness" and "steady state" in living processes].
abstract: A survey is given over the different meaning of the dialectic pair of terms continuity and discontinuity in philosophy contrasting with sciences. In mathematics, the term continuum is defined by Cantor in set theory as the innumerable multitude of the real numbers especially in the interval [0, 1]. The discontinuum means in Cantor's definition the rational fractions in [0, 1] which in triadic development do not contain the figure 1 [written I). In a more general sense, continuum is used in the mechanics of continuous fluids and gases in physics as well as in physiology. Here, the use of this term neglects the reality of intermolecular spaces intentionally. To employ in the life sciences, the pair of terms steady state and discreteness is clearer. Processes of life mostly are steady in the sense of balanced proceedings but numbers of individuals, cells, molecules, sexes etc, are discrete only. For example, the difference or the dimorphism between males and females is a distinct one between two different conditions but cannot be projected on "discontinuity". Discreteness as a term comprehends Boole an variables as are male-female, living-dead, as well as crowds of measure points.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001695:Biology; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010684:Philosophy; D012660:Semantics
vernacular_title: Gedanken zum Problem "Diskretität und Stetigkeit" von Lebensprozessen.