The fractal catalytic model (also referred to as the fractal catalytic theory or soliton-catalytic model) - proposed by Christopher James Davia and adopted in the research of Carnegie Mellon University (Lee and Marge Gregg) Professor of Psychology Patricia Carpenter - is a “theory of cognition grounded in metabolism” which identifies enzymatic catalysis (taking place in cells) as a “prototypical process” applying at all levels of scale in biological organisms.
The theory asserts that energy and structure (also information) become synonymous in complex biological structures via a self-organizing, multiple-scale catalytic process (thus: bioenergetics = bioinformatics) – the proposed mechanism involving the catalytic action of soliton propagation in (biological) excitable media. The theory resolves problems (particularly problems associated with brain function) arising from an assumed distinction between function and metabolism. The theory attempts to show that no such distinction exists; thus: FUNCTION = METABOLISM = CATALYSIS.
Developed initially within the field of embodied cognition it has been referenced in such areas as semiotics, artificial intelligence and theories of life’s origins.