Like the same patterns are everywhere
- Boundary and interface
- Skin, cell membrane, firewall, atmosphere. A one way boundary. Information can enter, classical signals cannot exit.
- The interface is what is allowed to cross and in what form.
- 100f⁝ API
- Channel and encoding
- Sender, receiver, channel, code, noise, bandwidth. Light from stars as a channel. The “encoding” is spectrum and polarization. The “noise” is dust, distance, instrument limits.
- An API is a codebook for signals sent through a channel.
- Feedback and control
- Systems act, observe the response, then correct. New stars heat gas and blow winds that slow or stop more star formation in the same region. Ice albedo feedback, greenhouse feedback, cloud feedback
- HTTP request-response, hormones, reflexes, temperature regulation.
- Protocol
- A protocol is a ritual of interaction. Electrons absorb or emit photons only in allowed energy steps. Strict “grammar” of interaction. Communication between same/different species.
- Sequence, meaning, expectations, error handling.
- Contract
- Inputs, outputs, failures, guarantees. Energy, momentum, charge. We can see them as contracts the universe enforces. Break the contract, the process is impossible.
- In software: specs and SLAs. In biology: homeostasis rules.
- Flow network
- Nodes, edges, latency, bottlenecks, redundancy. Galaxies in filaments and nodes. Matter flows along filaments into clusters.
- Nerves, blood vessels, roads, the internet, supply chains.
Also Evolution is the same abstract machine running at different “layers”.
Core pattern
Variation.
Selection pressure.
Retention.
Repeat.
1) Molecular and genetic level
Mutations and recombination create variants.
Selection filters what reproduces better.
Retention is DNA plus inheritance.
Example from the universe angle.
Stellar nucleosynthesis “evolves” chemistry.
Stars make heavier elements.
Those elements get recycled into new stars and planets.
Retention is literally atoms surviving the process.
2) Organisms
Bodies are bundles of traits.
Selection is survival and reproduction in a niche.
Retention is offspring plus learned behavior in some species.
Big gotcha.
Selection is local.
A trait can be “good” in one environment and bad in another.
3) Groups and species
Coevolution.
Predator and prey push each other.
Host and parasite do the same.
Arms races happen.
Also speciation.
Isolated populations drift apart.
No single plan, just divergence.
4) Ecosystems
Now selection is about relationships.
Pollinators, food chains, nutrient cycles.
Stability is emergent.
A small change can cascade.
This maps also in some way to software ecosystems.
One service changes an API.
Clients adapt.
Tooling, docs, and habits shift.
The “fitness” is integration cost, latency, reliability, and business value.
5) Culture and technology
Variants are ideas, practices, designs.
Selection is attention, money, regulation, and convenience.
Retention is documentation, training, standards, and infrastructure.
That is why “legacy” is so sticky.
Retention mechanisms are strong.
6) Organizational evolution
Teams and processes evolve too.
Selection is delivery speed, incidents, hiring, incentives.
Retention is process, org structure, and tooling.
A company can “select” for the wrong trait.
Example.
Optimizing for short term output creates fragile systems.
7) Software API evolution
Same.
Variation: new fields, new endpoints, new behaviors.
Selection: client adoption, support load, incident rate.
Retention: backwards compatibility, versioning, deprecation policy.
Note
We tend to observe systems that persist long enough to be observed. Many unstable things exist, but they vanish fast. Survivorship bias. Persistence is a prerequisite for long observation. But “balance” is not the only way to persist. Another way is continuous throughput, like a flame or a cell. Also, systems look “in balance” only because we are watching them through a tiny time window.
Observation
Concepts rarely have sharp boundaries in reality. We impose boundaries through a human perspective and simplified models so the world becomes understandable and predictable for us.