The Way We Conceptualize the Universe: Then v.s. Now

With the invention of the mechanical clock in the 13th century a metaphor linking the clock to the natural world was created. In the 1630's Descartes elaborated, explaining that while machines are made by man they still have the power to move independently. And that therefore the individual pieces making up the machines move in different ways, doing their part to create a greater whole. (Shapin) Philosophers of the time thought that this was a reasonable analogy as to the understanding of the workings of the natural world. 

In 1996, however, Stephanie Pace Marshall explained in the Wingspread Journal that the clock metaphor was far too linear. Arguing that in the past people have divided and compartmentalized every aspect of existence and that this no longer holds true. Scientists have proposed the new analogy of the Kaleidoscope.  Understanding that most of nature, for instance, weather, ecological systems, developing embryos, and the brain, are not linear brought the need for a new way of conceptualizing the universe. The world is an adaptive, dynamic, and pattern seeking world full of interconnections and order. As Marshall says, "It is a world where increasingly complex behaviors are created by very simple rules--rules that govern the relationships of individuals..."