Black-and-white logic can sometimes work even for complex systems. But it ignores the ways in which parts interact with one another. Reductionism may serve to explain how a bird flies, but not how a flock of birds move in unison. It may describe internal combustion, but not traffic patterns. It may describe electric patterns in the brain, but not consciousness, and it’s unlikely that anyone or anything—not even the world’s most powerful computers—will ever fully analyze the interactions that make for healthy soil.
Mark Bittman, Animal, Vegetable, Junk (Mariner)
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