# Biological Organization > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Biology / Systems **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Biological organization is the nested arrangement of molecules, cells, organisms, groups and ecosystems into interacting functional levels. ## Nexus Context Major evolutionary transitions occur when previously independent units form a new higher-level individual with coordinated reproduction and conflict control. ## Evidence Boundary Hierarchy alone does not prove a new evolutionary individual. The level at which heredity and selection operate must be demonstrated. ## Relationships [[wiki/Major Evolutionary Transitions|Major Evolutionary Transitions]], [[wiki/Unit of Selection|Unit of Selection]], [[wiki/Scalar Nesting|Scalar Nesting]], [[wiki/Distributed Intelligence|Distributed Intelligence]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "One of my many objections to "Artificial Intelligence" is its stark lack of any "Artificial Femininity." Real intelligence has gender, because human brains do." > **— Bruce Sterling**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Identity/Artificial Intelligence Lacks Artificial Femininity by Bruce Sterling|Artificial Intelligence Lacks Artificial Femininity by Bruce Sterling]] > "I read once that human brains began shrinking about 10 thousand years ago and are now as much as 15% smaller than they were then." > **— Brian Eno**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Evolution/Human Brains Have Shrunk Since Civilization Began by Brian Eno|Human Brains Have Shrunk Since Civilization Began by Brian Eno]] > "Brains exist primarily to do two things, to communicate (transfer information) and compute. This is true in every creature with a nervous system, and no less true in the human brain. In short, the brain is a machine. And the basic structure of that brain, biological substrate of all things mental, is guided in no small part by information carried in the DNA." > **— Gary Marcus**, *2006, Edge Annual Question, “What Is Your Dangerous Idea?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/The Brain Is a Machine Built From Genetic Information by Gary Marcus|The Brain Is a Machine Built From Genetic Information by Gary Marcus]] > "In May 2014, a team of molecular biologists led by Floyd Romesberg created a new genetic code, a self-replicating system that codes life forms using chemically modified DNA. This is a BFD; insofar as we know, for 4 billion years all life on this planet replicated using the four known base pairs of DNA (ATCG). Now we can swap in other chemicals. This third evolutionary logic-tree of life would initially be completely human designed-driven and could rapidly diverge from all known life. In theory scientists could begin to breed plants and animals with a very different genetic makeup from that of any other creature on the planet. And these new life forms may be immune to all known viruses and bacteria." > **— Juan Enriquez**, *2016, Edge Annual Question, “What Do You Consider the Most Interesting Recent Scientific News? What Makes It Important?”* [[reminders/Evolution/Humanity Has Created a Third Evolutionary Tree of Life by Juan Enriquez|Humanity Has Created a Third Evolutionary Tree of Life by Juan Enriquez]] From [[wiki/Daedalus, or Science and the Future|Daedalus, or Science and the Future]]: The line expresses Haldane’s sense of the scientific frontier in 1923. > "I have tried to show why I believe that the biologist is the most romantic figure on earth at the present day." > **— J. B. S. Haldane**, *1923 lecture; 1924, Daedalus, or Science and the Future* [[reminders/Evolution/The Biologist Is the Most Romantic Figure on Earth by J. B. S. Haldane|The Biologist Is the Most Romantic Figure on Earth by J. B. S. Haldane]] ## Sources / Provenance - Maynard Smith and Szathmáry (1995); multilevel-selection literature.