dd@beta.lanl.gov (Dan Davison) (01/10/89)
In article <6177@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>, hes@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Henry Schaffer) writes: > > This whole controversy makes me think again about a question which > has bothered me before. If reductionism is not sufficient - how can > one show/prove that it is not sufficient. [...] > Is that the answer? One can't disprove reductionism as long as there > is more work left to be done? That would mean essentially never. > --henry schaffer n c state univ I started out as a reductionist ("molecular biology can explain *everything*") but I've gradually drifted from that view. In part, is is, as Henry says, due to the fact that some systems (in the biologist's sense of the word) are so complex and interrelated that it is unlikely to ever get pulled apart (the CNS, for example). Part of my drift is also from reading books like Dyson's "Origins Of Life" (ISBN 0-521-30949-2) and Eigen's papers on the hypercycle. I guess this falls into the category of emergent properties; assemble a system of _n_ components are there then can arise properties not predictable from the starting components: the hypercycle is an example. I do not mean that I am wandering off into vitalism (although I do catch myself making assumptions like that from time to time!). I mean instead that components act together to form something greater than the "sum of the parts". A current example is the delicate, shifting dance of developmental gene products in _Drosophila_. A complex system based on diffusion and segregation of small (for the most part) proteins. _Notched_ is a good example: creates a small notch in the wing but is primary purpose is neurogenesis. Ah well. I have digressed a bit. Reductionism is an extremely powerful tool; the art in science is knowing when that tool breaks down. Look at Chargraff's (sp?) criticism of molecular biology (because of its reductionist view) over the last 35 years. (See the Eighth Day of Creation, by Judson). -- dan davison/theoretical biology/t-10 ms k710/los alamos national laboratory los alamos, nm 875545/dd@lanl.gov (arpa)/dd@lanl.uucp(new)/..cmcl2!lanl!dd Ollie North fans: See Romans 10:2