I have to confess to a temptation to turn this writing into a blog about the emerging field of Network Science. Fortunately, my abilities and talents are not in mathematics but in macro thought, to coin a phrase (however, Network Science by Ted Lewis is high on my reading list (funny Amazon only has 3 left in stock, it appears I am not alone)).
It is clear from some of the early work in this field, that looking at individual nodes may not give much, if any, indication that the node is even part of a network, and if part of a network, how communication between nodes occurs. One can only assume that this phenomena must be magnified if the observer is a "cell" in this network residing in one of its hubs. So if the earth is a hub in some kind of biological network of universal scale, it would be very, very hard for us i.e., the cells, to "know" this.
Of course the classic search for hubs is the planetary search now underway in astronomy. However, if this is really a biological network, rather than a planetary one, perhaps we are either searching in the wrong places, or using the wrong "language" for our search. I keep coming back to the concept that networks only appear to have form when viewed from outside the network. How can we, inside this network, step outside, however briefly, to gain an awareness of it?
It is clear from some of the early work in this field, that looking at individual nodes may not give much, if any, indication that the node is even part of a network, and if part of a network, how communication between nodes occurs. One can only assume that this phenomena must be magnified if the observer is a "cell" in this network residing in one of its hubs. So if the earth is a hub in some kind of biological network of universal scale, it would be very, very hard for us i.e., the cells, to "know" this.
Of course the classic search for hubs is the planetary search now underway in astronomy. However, if this is really a biological network, rather than a planetary one, perhaps we are either searching in the wrong places, or using the wrong "language" for our search. I keep coming back to the concept that networks only appear to have form when viewed from outside the network. How can we, inside this network, step outside, however briefly, to gain an awareness of it?
