Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
F
IGURE
13. Self-organisation of a beach according to Weiss.
Every time this beach
is photographed on a sunny Sunday during the same season, with an identical
number of visitors, an overall identical picture will be obtained although the
details vary. We are grateful to Blackwell Publishing for permission to reproduce
this figure (Weiss, 1973).
among bathers which is produced without their individual behav-
iour being coordinated by any precise determinism.
“
Consider the people as molecules. The heavier border on top is the
condensed belt of hydrophobic bodies adsorbed to the water-beach
interface. The dark clusters inside the mass clearly mark domains of
attractive forces, presumably emanating from sources of nutrient and
stimulant attractants. Their equidistant spacing indicates mutual
repulsion through forces of competition; and so forth. The analogy is
not at all facetious. It cuts deep into the heart of our topic, for it
exemplifies basic features of self-organising systems
” (SL p. 30).
According to Weiss, these self-organising properties of the living
organism imply that the reductionist point of view should be aban-
doned in favour of the holistic view. Living beings make up systems
