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PARADOXICAL LIFE
For readers of Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach , a fascinating look at the hidden meaning in matter
What can a fingernail tell us about the mysteries of creation? In one sense, a nail is merely a hunk of mute matter, yet in another, it’s an information superhighway quite literally at our fingertips. Every moment, streams of molecular signals direct our cells to move, flatten, swell, shrink, divide, or die. Andreas Wagner’s ambitious new book explores this hidden web of unimaginably complex interactions in every living being. In the process, he unveils a host of paradoxes underpinning our understanding of modern biology, contradictions he considers gatekeepers at the frontiers of knowledge. Though we tend to think of concepts in such mutually exclusive pairs as mind-matter, self-other, and nature-nurture, Wagner argues that these opposing ideas are not actually separate. Indeed, they are as inextricably connected as the two sides of a coin. Through a tour of modern biological marvels, Wagner illustrates how this paradoxical tension has a profound effect on the way we define the world around us. Paradoxical Life is thus not only a unique account of modern biology. It ultimately serves a radical—and optimistic—outlook for humans and the world we help create.
What can a fingernail tell us about the mysteries of creation? In one sense, a nail is merely a hunk of mute matter, yet in another, it’s an information superhighway quite literally at our fingertips. Every moment, streams of molecular signals direct our cells to move, flatten, swell, shrink, divide, or die. Andreas Wagner’s ambitious new book explores this hidden web of unimaginably complex interactions in every living being. In the process, he unveils a host of paradoxes underpinning our understanding of modern biology, contradictions he considers gatekeepers at the frontiers of knowledge. Though we tend to think of concepts in such mutually exclusive pairs as mind-matter, self-other, and nature-nurture, Wagner argues that these opposing ideas are not actually separate. Indeed, they are as inextricably connected as the two sides of a coin. Through a tour of modern biological marvels, Wagner illustrates how this paradoxical tension has a profound effect on the way we define the world around us. Paradoxical Life is thus not only a unique account of modern biology. It ultimately serves a radical—and optimistic—outlook for humans and the world we help create.
269 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Andreas Wagner
112 books69 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR
Andreas Wagner is Professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Zurich and an award-winning science writer. He received his PhD from Yale and has held research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The author of more than 150 scientific papers published in leading journals including Nature and Science, this is his first book popularizing his new evolutionary systems research. He lives in Zurich.
Andreas Wagner is Professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Zurich and an award-winning science writer. He received his PhD from Yale and has held research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The author of more than 150 scientific papers published in leading journals including Nature and Science, this is his first book popularizing his new evolutionary systems research. He lives in Zurich.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 6, 2017
Wagner wrote what i already suspected: life and meaning are intertwined. I found his approach, from biology, very interesting. Mix it with Smith and Berg ("Paradoxes of Group Life") and add some words of your self and you'll see.
March 30, 2011
I'm not a philosopher and this book is definitely philosophy. I think back to my days in the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Dept. at S.F. State, in which philosophical issues such as those addressed in this book, frequently arose: Holism vs. Reductionism; Freedom and Determinism; Circularity vs. Linearity, etc.
I finally came up with an image of the helix as a visual framework for dealing with these issues. Two lines of thought, two stances twirling around each other and driving forward at the same time. This book is a much richer and more thoughtful explication of that dynamic.
The many parameters of thought and being that are caught up in paradoxical dualisms, or in Wagner's terms, are two sides of the same coin. This book beats no drums, or if it does so, it does so quietly.
He seems to advocate for standing in a vortex, a place of uncertainty, and being alive to the possibilities that arise; to advocate for taking the responsibility for the freedom to choose in the face of certain uncertainty. Whatever choices you make are bound to be right and wrong from different perspectives of time and situation, but choices are essential to being alive.
An amazing aspect of this book is that he applies all his thought to all evolving systems, irregardless of the level of overt intelligence. His thought applies to bacteria as well as to humans.
If you are of a philosophical bent and enjoy biological and other scientific 'curiosities,' this is an excellent read.
I finally came up with an image of the helix as a visual framework for dealing with these issues. Two lines of thought, two stances twirling around each other and driving forward at the same time. This book is a much richer and more thoughtful explication of that dynamic.
The many parameters of thought and being that are caught up in paradoxical dualisms, or in Wagner's terms, are two sides of the same coin. This book beats no drums, or if it does so, it does so quietly.
He seems to advocate for standing in a vortex, a place of uncertainty, and being alive to the possibilities that arise; to advocate for taking the responsibility for the freedom to choose in the face of certain uncertainty. Whatever choices you make are bound to be right and wrong from different perspectives of time and situation, but choices are essential to being alive.
An amazing aspect of this book is that he applies all his thought to all evolving systems, irregardless of the level of overt intelligence. His thought applies to bacteria as well as to humans.
If you are of a philosophical bent and enjoy biological and other scientific 'curiosities,' this is an excellent read.
April 14, 2012
An interesting approach, showing the other side of the coin from what we learnt in classroom biology, microbiology, biochemistry and chemistry. Entertaining, and thought-provoking.
March 21, 2014
570.1
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews