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Christopher Alexander's The Nature of Order
The era of monumental tomes is upon us. After slogging through Gould's 1400+ page Structure of Evolutionary Theory, and Wolfram's equally hefty A New Kind of Science, (the former woefully overwritten, the latter woefully overrated) one could be forgiven for swearing off big science books for a while. Yet a major new treatise has just been published which might actually justify its War And Peace-like girth. Christopher Alexander, superstar of architecture and (accidently) of computer science, and author of A Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language, has finally published his major 4-volume tome, The Nature of Order.
Alexander's previous works are masterful, dense treatises on the nature of structure -- and the kind of meaning we take from structure. Alexander's thoughts have influenced everything from software design to the way we look at antique carpets. As with previous thinkers of such magnitude and reach, there is a bit of a cult around him, but Alexander's extraordinary depth and detail have so far enabled him to resist becoming a pop philosophy icon.
From the website (www.natureoforder.com):
"The four books of the Nature of Order redefine architecture as we know it. Each of the books is independent, and deals with one facet of the problem. Taken together the four books redefine the cosmology that provides architecture with its underpinning; they redefine the procedures of planning, design and building; they redefine the style, the shapes of buildings and the forms of construction. Here is an entirely new way of thinking about the world, one likely to enter fields as diverse as computer science, sociology, philosophy, and art. As one writer has expressed it, "The books provide the language for the construction and transition to a new kind of society, rooted in the nature of human beings."
The four books, all essays on the topic of living structure, are connected and interdependent. Each can be read by itself, and each sheds light on one facet of the problem of living structure: First the definition, second the process of generating living structure, third the practical vision of a world made of living structure, and fourth, the cosmological underpinnings and implications caused by the idea of living structure."
It sounds squishy and fraught with overpromise: but all of Alexander's works could be described in such florid prose -- and those actually deliver terrific insights.
Bioinformatics Wants To Be Free
In India, a new genetically modified, protein-enhanced potato (called a "protato") is being developed to feed India's poor.
The brainchild of Dr. Govindarajan Padmanaban and Dr. Asis Datta, the new breed of potato will contain 30% more protein, as well as increased amounts of several essential amino acids. The new spud is the cornerstone of a 15-year plan to end malnutrition among India's neediest children unveiled in December 2002 by Padmanaban at the Royal Society in London.
Unlike similar genetically modified crop varieties developed to resist disease or insects, or even other nutrient-fortified GMOs, the 'protato' lacks one element shared by almost all previous efforts: a transnational corporate patent holder.
When I asked Dr. Padmanaban about this, his answer was illuminating:
"...I believe this GM patent controversy is irrelevant to developing countries and it is essentially [part of] an economic war between US and Europe, both partners over producing grains. India needs more in terms of quality and quantity to meet the requirements of the growing population. With land, water etc becoming limiting factors, GM plants are an answer. One can have regulations to take care of the concerns of GM, but the attitude of the activists seems to be to stifle and kill the initiatives and let India continue to be a dependent country forever."
Without a Monsanto or AstraZeneca behind it, and with its humanitarian aims, there has been little activist outrage over the protato - an unusual claim for any GM crop. But the new protein-packer may be something more: a very early sign of the development of "open-source", patentless bioengineering.
This concept, in which the research, engineering and intellectual property models of open-source software get applied to bioengineering has been getting some serious think-through in the past few months. A piece by the Washington Monthly, "May the Source Be With You," explains the general principles.
Dr. Robert Carlson, a scientist at Applied Minds, has written two very thoughtful pieces on this topic and its implications. Both "Open Source Biology" (pdf) and "Biological Technology in 2050"(pdf) which won an Economist/Shell prize, are excellent reads. Finally, Eugene Thacker, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, has put together an even more speculative piece, entitled "Open Source DNA?" (pdf).
As the cost of bioinformatics software and equipment continue to decline, will Big Biotech inevitably find itself "bionuxed" (i.e. "linuxed"?) There are already tools (such as BioPerl, an open-source set of tools for genomics, informatics and life science research) conferences being set up. With the costs for a modest bioengineering rig set to drop to just over $10,000 in the next few years, the era of the garage biohacker may soon be upon us.
Envisioning Global Values
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The January 2003 issue of the Economist magazine has a terrific analysis of the similarities and differences between America's values, various European values, and those of other regions in the world. The article is notable for the above extraordinary map, based on on the World Values Survey conducted at the University of Michigan. The WVS has carried out representative national surveys of the basic values and beliefs of publics in more than 65 societies on all six inhabited continents, containing almost 80 percent of the world's population since 1981.
The Economist article explores the rift between American values (which the WVS identifies as a mix of "traditional" values and "self expression values") and European values (which also are oriented around self-expression, but are decidedly more secular):
...[In the chart] America's position is odd. On the quality-of-life axis, it is like Europe: a little more “self-expressive” than Catholic countries, such as France and Italy, a little less so than Protestant ones such as Holland or Sweden. This is more than a matter of individual preference. The “quality of life” axis is the one most closely associated with political and economic freedoms. So Mr Bush is right when he claims that Americans and European share common values of democracy and freedom and that these have broad implications because, at root, alliances are built on such common interests.
But now look at America's position on the traditional-secular axis. It is far more traditional than any west European country except Ireland. It is more traditional than any place at all in central or Eastern Europe. America is near the bottom-right corner of the chart, a strange mix of tradition and self-expression.
Americans are the most patriotic people in the survey: 72% say they are very proud of their country (and this bit of the poll was taken before September 2001). That puts America in the same category as India and Turkey. The survey reckons religious attitudes are the single most important component of traditionalism. On that score, Americans are closer to Nigerians and Turks than Germans or Swedes.
