Efficiency in Nature

Man is often concerned with making this or that process more efficient. We hear that capitalism is a good forum for open markets and therefore an efficient economic system. Businesses are looking for increased productivity and often strive for better (i.e. more efficient) processes to gather the greater bang for the buck. Baseball players are always looking for a more efficient swing and most folks in the Western world are looking for the best approach to nearly every human endeavor. Indeed, I think that few would argue that a more efficient system of doing a given task is an inherently better way of doing the task.

Let us take a moment to reflect on the ways of nature. When nature goes about making a new maple tree, I note that nature found it reasonable to make a zillion helicopters and let them blow in the wind. In the little woodlot that I am current steward of I notice that most never even germinate. Of the several thousands that do sprout leaves and start their glorious growth, most wither and die in the shade of the mature trees. No doubt several hundred make it the first few years but alas, most of these are eaten as tender sprouts before long. Now we get down to the very few remaining who are to carry on the species. Again, many will be felled by lightening, bugs, disease, man, etc. Indeed it is a wonder that any maple trees still exists at all and yet I find them to be plentiful and common. What was nature thinking of when the reproductive system of maple trees was devised? Take it a bit farther. Trees in general must have been made for the benefit of man so why didn't we get 2x4 trees instead of Spruce, 2x10 trees in place of Fir, telephone pole trees in place of Cedar, 2x4 treated in place of Redwood? Why all the branches and leaves and roots. Most of the tree can not be used for much of anything at all. Such waste!

OK, so perhaps the example in the plant kingdom is out of sync with the rest of nature. Let us examine the tree frogs in my pond. Eggs upon eggs are laid. When they hatch the pond turns black with tadpoles. When they leave the water, they are everywhere. I don't think that a great many make it to maturity. I don't think that they are supposed to. Man would never make so many if only a few were to be kept.

Count the stars if you will. How many would be required to fill the skies with a decent display if you were designing the universe? In your wildest thoughts, do you honestly think that you would have come up with more that a few hundred or even several thousand?

Once while in the service I knew a boy from Hawaii. We were stationed in Kansas together. He would take off every weekend we had a pass and just drive. His first venture was West from Kansas City. He drove all day and was still in Kansas. He could not imagine so much land. Growing up on the islands, he viewed the earth as mostly water (correctly of course) and had seen maps of America, Asia and such but still could not think of driving all day (in any direction mind you) and still having land stretch out further than he was able to imagine. I have the same sensation when viewing the oceans.

Perhaps nature has the view that with unlimited resources and time it doesn't really matter whether or not the most efficient systems are in place. It only matters that they work once in a while. Even then (remember the dinosaurs), if things do not continue to work as intended, so what!

Given that man is more than just a machine, I think that we would be wise to encourage attributes in addition to efficiency. Additional emphasis on critical thinking skills and appreciation of the arts would be a benefit to all I am certain. Some of my friends from overseas would even suggest that we in the US should learn how to enjoy life in addition to learning to possess and consume and rush about working and otherwise acting as efficient little machines.