Mike Lesser introduces me
to far-from-equilibrium systems
where contrasts are too great
for the stately laws of thermodynamics
to tell us much —
where messy flows
give rise to structures,
where the possibility of life
emerges from between the cracks.
He tells me of robots
programmed to travel uphill,
how they only ever get there
if they make enough mistakes.
You cannot hope
to reach the summit,
he teaches me,
by only ever going up.
.
Fergus Murray
.