The application of graphicity to create patterns from the complexities of
nature is an activity of modern scientists where it is one of the key
approaches to a comprehensive theory of living systems and our place in
the universe. Comprehension of the environment actually lies in the
synthesis of two very different approaches, the study of substance (or
structure) and the study of form (or pattern). In the study of structure we
measure and weigh things. Patterns however cannot be measured or
weighted; they must be mapped, which is a process of picturing. To
understand pattern we must map a configuration of relationships. In other
words, structure involves quantities, while pattern involves qualities.
Drawing something is an act of comprehension. However, regarding life
itself, there is more to it than the shapes of individuals and the
submicrosopic arrangements of atoms and molecules. This living essence
is something non-material and irreducible – a pattern of organisation. Its
most important property is that it is a network-pattern. That is to say,
whenever we encounter what are living-organisms, parts of organisms, or
communities of organisms, we can observe that the components are
arranged in a network fashion. At the highest levels, predator/prey chains
and food webs are good ecological examples.
A network means that information flows in all directions. In particular, an
influence or message may travel along a cyclical path, which then
becomes a feedback loop. For instance, a community by maintaining an
active network of communication will learn from its mistakes because the
consequences of a mistake will spread through the network and return to
the source along feedback loops. Thus the community can correct its
mistakes, regulate itself, and organise itself.
