I’m commenting before finishing because I wanted this thought out of me:
I’m at the part where Kant is talking about the circular nature of biological feedback systems, and how when he traces out the logic it’s circular and therefor biology is, in some way, unsolvable.
It occurs to me that the feedback cycle of a tree (as the main example given) isn’t CIRCULAR, it’s a SPIRAL. In a circle, you go around and end up where you started. There’s no advancement, no change beyond your position on the circle. But a tree does advance. The roots gather the neutrients to grow leaves. The leaves harness energy to grow deeper roots, make the tree bigger, sprout new branches. The roots are now deeper than when they started, and keep getting deeper still, and the leaves are more plentiful than when they started, and keep getting more plentiful still. There’s a Cycle, sure, but not a Circle, it’s a spiral going ever upward.
And maybe, just maybe, Kang’s bid for the presidency appealing to the idea of ‘moving upward, twirling, twirling’ suddenly makes a lot of sense.
I’m commenting before finishing because I wanted this thought out of me:
I’m at the part where Kant is talking about the circular nature of biological feedback systems, and how when he traces out the logic it’s circular and therefor biology is, in some way, unsolvable.
It occurs to me that the feedback cycle of a tree (as the main example given) isn’t CIRCULAR, it’s a SPIRAL. In a circle, you go around and end up where you started. There’s no advancement, no change beyond your position on the circle. But a tree does advance. The roots gather the neutrients to grow leaves. The leaves harness energy to grow deeper roots, make the tree bigger, sprout new branches. The roots are now deeper than when they started, and keep getting deeper still, and the leaves are more plentiful than when they started, and keep getting more plentiful still. There’s a Cycle, sure, but not a Circle, it’s a spiral going ever upward.
And maybe, just maybe, Kang’s bid for the presidency appealing to the idea of ‘moving upward, twirling, twirling’ suddenly makes a lot of sense.