Sunday, August 24, 2008

Organism centricity

As organisms ourselves, it's natural for us to think that the world centers around the structure and survival of organisms. The structure of processes, and survival of codes, may seem incidental in this context. As a result the organism story might get more than its share of attention.

Codes that don't get their share of attention include idea codes. These can now find their way into hearts and minds across the globe, in less time than it takes to shake a stick. Of course we transmit them willy-nilly, but we discuss their role as agents much less.

Processes that don't get their share of attention include those of correlation building that each of us does in (a) developing friendships, (b) maintaining families, (c) supporting communities, (d) honoring beliefs, and (e) extending human awareness of the world around. The effect of disasters and policy changes on these things doesn't normally show up in the body count, but that doesn't make them any less important.

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