BioInspired! So What? Now What!

Thanks to Curt McNamara for the pointer, and the International Society for the Systems Sciences for arranging the session.  Richard MacCowan reviewed Henshaw's Guiding Patterns of Naturally Occurring Design for ZQ29.  From the ISSS announcement:

A brief mention of her background precedes discussions of the main differences between the observed forms of naturally defined systems we can point to and human-defined concepts we often use to represent nature and how to maintain their connections. The main connection is our ability to point to naturally defined forms and ask questions about them. Developing mental concepts to represent nature, as by naming things, creates mental proxies we can attach all our thoughts and feelings and build our lives around. Then we will work on reconnecting concepts with their evolving subjects, such as represented by the ubiquitous ‘S’ curves of development. Attaching strategic questions opens our minds to new information and gets us in the habit of testing and refreshing our observations.