Quote of the Week
(December 9, 2024)

[On likening organisms to cybernetic machines:] Surely it is difficult to find much commonality between the transformation of a single zygotic cell into a mature eagle, on one hand, and the “development” of a cruise missile, on the other. If, before venturing upon its flight, the missile were to “mature” from a single transistor (or circuit board) into the totality of a functioning, deadly efficient vehicle; and if, during its flight, all its physical constituents were metabolizing and metamorphosing as an essential part of the overall operation; and if, instead of a single goal, there were a massively interwoven and nearly infinite collection of goals governing each of the missile’s “organs”, each “cell”, the entire missile as a whole, and all its environmental relations — well, as you can see, taking the comparison with living beings seriously could get silly fast.

(from Chapter 10, “What Is the Problem of Form”, in Organisms and Their Evolution — Agency and Meaning in the Drama of Life)

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