The Basics

Form and function

In nonorganic material, form follows function.  We create a building because we need the shelter.  Designers determine the shape of the building and the interior structures from the inputs of what the building is needed for.  We create a mug from clay because we need something to drink out of.  We have fancy mattresses because we need a pallet that can receive the force distribution of our bodyweight through the night, and then we can fully relax while we sleep.  Tools, vehicles, furniture, appliances for daily living, etc demonstrate their shape as a function of the act that it supports.

Organic matter inverts this principle.  In living beings; plants, animals, people, function reveals the form underneath.  The behavior of living things is determined by its shape.  A blade of grass grows with a wide surface area, thus it can take in the sun's energy more fully than it could without this broadness.  The tentacles of an octopus determine the mesmerizing movements we observe.  They can walk on the ocean floor, they can blend in with the coral, they can propel themselves through the water very quickly, and they can float along, riding the currents in the ocean.  The composition of their body allows for their amazing fluidity.  Purpose and potentiality give rise to how organic material organizes itself in space.

As organic material forms itself to express internal workings, the material simultaneously interacts with outer surroundings.  Organic matter utilizes all the forces and energy available in its vicinity.  The shape of a living creature provides the layout for all the qualities necessary for the substrate to continue on in time - to live! Cells embed themselves in a soup of their clones as they divide and expand the space they take up, all the while, storing the information of the outer environment at the time of the first cell's beginning.