in a rather more living language
form frames function, I think we,
should we agree,
may make waves or points proving
science is good.
Clipped from: http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-unbearable-wholeness-of-beings
If you try to describe the living processes of the cell
in a rather more
living language
than is typically found
in the literature of molecular biology —
if you resort to a language
reflecting the artfulness and grace,
the well-coordinated rhythms,
and the striking choreography
of phenomena such as
gene expression,
signaling cascades, and
mitotic cell division —
you will almost
certainly
hear mutterings
about your flirtation with
“spooky, mysterious, nonphysical forces.”
You can expect to hear yourself labeled a “mystic” or —
there is hardly any viler epithet within biology today — a “vitalist.”
We have tools wordsmiths never imagined in times of points and picas.