Posted: May 16, 2012 4:59 pm
Rumraket wrote:CharlieM has this strange habit of linking some obscure article with a number of quotes about how wonderful and complex living systems are, then back it up with some bits of vague and arbitrary declarations like the need for "incredible" organization.
Hmm, I see.
I wonder what properties this notion possesses over and above 'credible organisation'. I think it's quite safe to just remove the unnecessary adjective.
Organisation in nature is a product of conflicting forces, not an orchestrated intentional event.
Snow drifts are 'organised' by the wind, by the aerodynamic qualities of the various geometric shapes on the ground, and gravity. They come out fairly highly organised, and are quite repeatable given very similar circumstances. Something can be 'incredible' in the sense of looking at the final product, but perfectly mundane when looking at how it arrived at that level of organisation.