Complexity Poem by gershon hepner

Start off simple, developing complexity,
like the genes in genomes, for example;
with it, you can arouse perplexity
allowing ignoramuses to sample
your wisdom, marveling at the perm-
utations of your personality.
Don’t flagellate yourself, but like a sperm,
connect with others with vitality,
concocting concepts that are so complex
the world will love you, and you will receive
more offers of sensational supersex
than with complexity you can achieve.
Add to your meaning every day
new layers will make all the ladies sigh,
if you do not explain the things you say,
your motto: “Complicate, don’t simplify.”


Natalie Angier (“Scientists and Philosophers Find that the ‘Gene’ Has a Multitude of Meanings, ’ NYT, November 11,2008) , writes about the importance of RNA, whose role in genome is more important than had previously been thought.

For many scientists, the increasingly baroque portrait of the genome that their latest research has revealed, along with the muddying of molecular categories, is to be expected. “It’s the normal process of doing science, ” said Jonathan R. Beckwith of Harvard Medical School. “You start off simple and you develop complexity.” Nor are researchers disturbed by any linguistic turbulence that may arise, any confusion over what they mean when they talk about genes. “Geneticists happily abuse ‘gene’ to mean many things in many settings, ” said Eric S. Lander of the Broad Institute. “This can be a source of enormous consternation to onlookers who want to understand the conversation, but geneticists aren’t bothered.” In Dr. Lander’s view, the “kluges upon kluges” are an occupational hazard. “We’re trying to parse an incredibly complex system, ” he said. “It’s like the U.S. economy. What are your functional units? Employees and employers? Consumers and producers? What if you’re a freelancer with multiple employers? Where do farmers’ markets and eBay map onto your taxonomy? ” “You shouldn’t be worried about the fact that you have to layer on other things as you go along, ” he said. “You can never capture something like an economy, a genome or an ecosystem with one model or one taxonomy — it all depends on the questions you want to ask.” Dr. Lander added: “You have to be able to say, this is Tuesday’s simplification; Wednesday’s may be different, because incredible progress has been made by those simplifications.”

11/111/08