Why is it that when a human draws a fern it is art, but when matter grows into a fern, it is not? When humans keep track of a solar day with a calendar, we call this science, but when plants do it, we call it mechanical response. Why? Plants may not write out mathematical formulas on paper with pencils, but in some sense don’t they perform the most daring non-linear equations with their fractal limbs?
为什么人画出蕨类植物被称为艺术，而物质生长成蕨类植物却不是？当人类用日历记录太阳日时，我们称之为科学，而当植物做同样的事情时，我们却称之为机械反应。为什么？植物不会用铅笔在纸上写出数学公式，但从某种意义上说，它们难道不通过分形般的枝叶完成了最大胆的非线性方程吗？
Nail, T. (2022) Theory of the Object