Two Views of Life

As emphasised by the evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith, there are two distinct ways in which living organisms may be viewed. ``One is of a population of entities which, because they possess a hereditary mechanism, will evolve adaptations for survival. The other is of a complex structure which is maintained by the energy flowing through it'' [Maynard Smith 86] (p.7). In the following two subsections I will give a quick overview of these two pictures.