Chapter 2:
Biology, The Rules for Life

This section expands on the idea that life and complexity arise from layers—or hierarchies—of rules, each building upon the immutable laws of physics and chemistry.

It begins by distinguishing rules (the governing principles of behavior) from properties (the outcomes or characteristics that emerge). DNA serves as an example—it follows physical and chemical rules while encoding the inherited properties that define living organisms and their instincts.

The text discusses programmed mortality, explaining both how and why lifeforms are designed to die, touching on regeneration as a fascinating exception that hints at deeper rules. It asks whether the rules governing life are as immutable as those of physics, and when, in the process of assembly, the shift occurs from atomic-level laws to biological rules governing living systems.

Questions are raised about the origin of life’s informational systems, such as where stem cells derive their instructions, and the fact that molecules necessary for life did not exist at the Big Bang, implying that life’s complexity evolved later from simpler rules. The “Lego-Land Analogy” illustrates this emergence—showing that, unlike a human-made system, the universe’s rules produce self-organizing complexity without direct input.

The text reflects on human limitations as observers, constrained by the very rules that create us, and highlights how mechanical and physical constraints shape lifeforms, from dinosaurs to humans. It critiques human behavior for violating natural laws, especially through overpopulation and unsustainable habits, suggesting that a return to earlier, balanced ways of living could align us more closely with nature’s pace of evolution.

The section closes by noting that optimization—seen in traits like average human height—is a fundamental pattern in life’s evolution, and that most natural rules are composite, emerging from the interaction of simpler sub-rules.