The robot and the forest

The end of the animal machine metaphor

jeudi 15 septembre 2005.

Biology has long been under the influence of the animal-machine metaphor. Today’s reference machine is no longer a clock but a robot. Accordingly, living cells are but individual spare parts in charge of the smooth functioning of the robot. Now what if the living body rather were compared to a forest ? Ecosystems do not evolve under the tutelary guidance of some central programming biased by the search of a best collective interest, but rather by the conjunction of the particular interests of each of its individual inhabitants. That body-forest would arise not from a prefigured plan tending to a preconceived goal but merely from its history. Among the crop-full of questions that such a proposal might at once feed stands the following : how could specialized physiological functions such as say defense against infections which implicates the cooperation of multiple cell types could emerge from that organization ?

• accueil ;
• Articles ;
• The robot and the forest.