"But (I think) they use it as an immediate proxy for the real objects. So, their defn of coherence wouldn't change. My focus isn't so much on whether their calculation actually works as intended. Just that it is a more formal concept than Nick's "objects that interact more with themselves than others".
In this example, the discussion was more about the composition of functional relationships (ion transport, DNA repair) and their consequences than it is about objects. My concern isn't that a calculation work as intended, it is that the desire for formalism could be in opposition to quantitative prediction. If your goal is to weed out intellectual disability, it might be better to use a statistical model method based on higher dimensional data (e.g. comparing raw sequences), than one that invokes biological concepts. Marcus ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
