Chris Kempes

And now all of these ciliated cells don't need to try and reproduce. So I don't need to think about the downstream consequences of what molecules they have to carry around to be able to reproduce. I get efficiencies out of both of that, right? And that's sort of what differentiation is doing.

And now all of these ciliated cells don't need to try and reproduce. So I don't need to think about the downstream consequences of what molecules they have to carry around to be able to reproduce. I get efficiencies out of both of that, right? And that's sort of what differentiation is doing.

And I think that basic idea that when you take one thing that does everything and you split it up into subtasks that each do part of the thing but don't have to pay the cost of doing the other thing but still get the benefit from it, I think that's an idea that runs through economics, through biology.

And I think that basic idea that when you take one thing that does everything and you split it up into subtasks that each do part of the thing but don't have to pay the cost of doing the other thing but still get the benefit from it, I think that's an idea that runs through economics, through biology.

It really is just sort of how economies of scale happen is through specialization and differentiation. And so I think that that idea is as true for a city as it is for a little sponge. And it's just about when you specialize, you don't pay you don't do all the things that you're not specializing in. So you don't pay the cost of trying to. Right.

It really is just sort of how economies of scale happen is through specialization and differentiation. And so I think that that idea is as true for a city as it is for a little sponge. And it's just about when you specialize, you don't pay you don't do all the things that you're not specializing in. So you don't pay the cost of trying to. Right.

And so, you know, I'm not currently paying the cost of trying to become a really good guitar player. which I know is not accessible to me. And so I happily consume really wonderful music from other people. And I get the benefit of that without needing to try to do it myself.

And so, you know, I'm not currently paying the cost of trying to become a really good guitar player. which I know is not accessible to me. And so I happily consume really wonderful music from other people. And I get the benefit of that without needing to try to do it myself.

Yeah, I agree. I think development is astonishing, right? That you start off with one cell type and it divides and changes internal composition in terms of what proteins it has and what genes are turned on. And you go down this whole developmental cascade. There are ways to replicate where you don't do that, where you say, I'm actually just going to...

Yeah, I agree. I think development is astonishing, right? That you start off with one cell type and it divides and changes internal composition in terms of what proteins it has and what genes are turned on. And you go down this whole developmental cascade. There are ways to replicate where you don't do that, where you say, I'm actually just going to...

cut off a whole portion of the body that has all the different cell types already differentiated. And then all of those will replicate and rearrange and form a new functional differentiated body. There are a small number of organisms in different categories. I mean, small number of large multicellular organisms in different categories are able to do that.

cut off a whole portion of the body that has all the different cell types already differentiated. And then all of those will replicate and rearrange and form a new functional differentiated body. There are a small number of organisms in different categories. I mean, small number of large multicellular organisms in different categories are able to do that.

Plants, to some extent, can, you know, sort of amazing, you can grow the whole plant back from enough of the right tissue excised from an adult plant. And planaria, you know, have all these strange things about them. how much they can replicate from bits. We had Michael Levin on the podcast talking about that stuff. Okay, great. Yeah, perfect.

Plants, to some extent, can, you know, sort of amazing, you can grow the whole plant back from enough of the right tissue excised from an adult plant. And planaria, you know, have all these strange things about them. how much they can replicate from bits. We had Michael Levin on the podcast talking about that stuff. Okay, great. Yeah, perfect.

There certainly are cases where you can do that, but it's interesting that it's not the norm for certain classes of complex multicellular organisms.

There certainly are cases where you can do that, but it's interesting that it's not the norm for certain classes of complex multicellular organisms.

I mean, mammals are a relatively narrow taxonomic group, but we don't have any mammals that are just fully cutting themselves in half, and then every cell replicates and builds a second portion of its same tissue, and you get a whole new mammal that way. Right. Yeah, okay. No, plants are a large part of the world, and they're plenary everywhere, so it's a little bit of how you count it, but yeah.

I mean, mammals are a relatively narrow taxonomic group, but we don't have any mammals that are just fully cutting themselves in half, and then every cell replicates and builds a second portion of its same tissue, and you get a whole new mammal that way. Right. Yeah, okay. No, plants are a large part of the world, and they're plenary everywhere, so it's a little bit of how you count it, but yeah.

Yes, absolutely. And I think that's actually the classic work that sort of re-kickstarted, re-kickstarted, that's a double rebooting, this sort of whole field and way of thinking. So those optimizations for the fractal geometry of vascular systems in mammals and plants are

Yes, absolutely. And I think that's actually the classic work that sort of re-kickstarted, re-kickstarted, that's a double rebooting, this sort of whole field and way of thinking. So those optimizations for the fractal geometry of vascular systems in mammals and plants are