Interesting to read. I have read a lot of Alexander von Humboldt's text from 200 years ago and although with modern knowledge there were a lot of mistakes in science from back then, but it definitely is very fascinating and I've always love the detailed drawings from back then.
In many ways, Darwin was working at the foundations of the modern biology we see today. Much of what he wrote has since been corrected, refined, or replaced. Yet it remains astonishing how far he got through patient, systematic observation, simple experiments, and careful deduction.
His explanation of how coral reefs form still holds today. From the shape of a Madagascan orchid, he even predicted the existence of a moth with an extraordinarily long proboscis, an animal discovered decades later. And, of course, the theory of evolution.
There's something very phenomenological in the movement you're tracing here. Darwins attention to the sea pen is close that the meaning of "individual" becomes a question. Each polyp is its own yet the whole thing moves together, a Gestalt. When his description brings him tot he point where he might need to reconsider his categories, I read that as a willingness to let meaning emerge from the encounter and change the terms of inquiry. "What is an individual?" is what comes from that.
And then the return to the tree... The weird animal makes the familiar tree strange again. Having encountered the polyps, he can return to a tree and question its individuality. That feels close to the phenomenological project - to attend to how things show themselves, including where they exceed what was a "settled" understanding. Wonder survives anatomical precision.
Such a good article and so v v interesting ... I'm doing research into the language of the placenta - umbilical tongue-ing, that sort of thing (an oddness) ... Darwin's finds overlap (for me) in their eerie weirdness; his descriptions and doggered-ness have always inspired me. His language is so fresh; the imagination can travel with that alone. But he is not just reporting facts; he is shaping relationships to these wonders. Anyway really appreciate your work. It serendipitously arrived on my feed today, from https://substack.com/@meaningunfolds ... ps. My work is through processing somewhat speculative ...metabolic mediums as language frames, then New Materialists, Feminist Posthuman, Phenomenological lens, that sort of thing
Thank you so much—I’m very happy it resonated with you, and it’s lovely to meet you here. Your work on the language of the placenta and “umbilical tongue-ing” sounds fascinating, and wonderfully close to these questions of bodies, boundaries and relationships.
I especially love your observation that Darwin is not merely reporting facts but shaping relationships to these wonders—that is so much of what draws me to his writing. I can’t wait to dive into your work as well!
Loverly to meet you too Michael. I’m very excited to find and meet you and to hear about your book and the journey your on. Its going to be fantastic read. It seems we are both in the beginning stages of a similar type of adventure writing into something unknown/sort of. I too like looking into the margins, the grotesque and Bakhtin is a door opener on so many things in his world that we take for granted. (im interested in the monstrous esp re the body) Their ugly/beautiful. I relate too to all the polypy stuff the grit and texture of his observations … I’ve been reading up on Bennet but Grosz is more for me… wonder in the human - but connected to it all-body … after Deleuze everything opened. The world is such an exciting place. I champion your project. Majena
I read this in one sitting. It’s hypnotic. I love the wonder it holds!
I especially loved the last section. The transition from the polyp’s “real genealogical tree”, three generations stuck in one body, to the diagram folding out of the Origin, and then that closing line, "life itself shapeshifting". Time is woven into what a living thing is.
It reminded me of Caspar Henderson’s The Book of Barely Imagined Beings – maybe because I see a similar appetite for creatures that won’t sit still in our language and categories. He retells Borges’s A Bao A Qu, which lives at the foot of a tower and only comes into being when someone climbs it. Its color deepens, and its light brightens step by step but if the climber turns back it hangs there “as if paralyzed, its body incomplete.” Henderson’s interpretation is that unless we enlarge our imaginations to take account of other forms of being, we miss our main task. A body that can’t complete itself alone - it belongs among your polyps :)
Thank you so much, that means a great deal to me. I love the A Bao A Qu connection. Strange bodies have so much to tell us, and biology can be every bit as rich as literature. There are many more curious creatures waiting in Darwin :)
Thank you for introducing me to these beings! they’ve been genuinely inspiring. I agree that biology can be as rich as literature. Looking forward to the rest of the curious creatures.
I loved this Michael! That delicious question of where does one individual end and the collective begin? Nature really loves rebelling against the neat little categories we like to construct 😂 such a fascinating chapter, thanks for sharing! 👏👏
Interesting to read. I have read a lot of Alexander von Humboldt's text from 200 years ago and although with modern knowledge there were a lot of mistakes in science from back then, but it definitely is very fascinating and I've always love the detailed drawings from back then.
In many ways, Darwin was working at the foundations of the modern biology we see today. Much of what he wrote has since been corrected, refined, or replaced. Yet it remains astonishing how far he got through patient, systematic observation, simple experiments, and careful deduction.
His explanation of how coral reefs form still holds today. From the shape of a Madagascan orchid, he even predicted the existence of a moth with an extraordinarily long proboscis, an animal discovered decades later. And, of course, the theory of evolution.
There's something very phenomenological in the movement you're tracing here. Darwins attention to the sea pen is close that the meaning of "individual" becomes a question. Each polyp is its own yet the whole thing moves together, a Gestalt. When his description brings him tot he point where he might need to reconsider his categories, I read that as a willingness to let meaning emerge from the encounter and change the terms of inquiry. "What is an individual?" is what comes from that.
And then the return to the tree... The weird animal makes the familiar tree strange again. Having encountered the polyps, he can return to a tree and question its individuality. That feels close to the phenomenological project - to attend to how things show themselves, including where they exceed what was a "settled" understanding. Wonder survives anatomical precision.
Such a good article and so v v interesting ... I'm doing research into the language of the placenta - umbilical tongue-ing, that sort of thing (an oddness) ... Darwin's finds overlap (for me) in their eerie weirdness; his descriptions and doggered-ness have always inspired me. His language is so fresh; the imagination can travel with that alone. But he is not just reporting facts; he is shaping relationships to these wonders. Anyway really appreciate your work. It serendipitously arrived on my feed today, from https://substack.com/@meaningunfolds ... ps. My work is through processing somewhat speculative ...metabolic mediums as language frames, then New Materialists, Feminist Posthuman, Phenomenological lens, that sort of thing
Thank you so much—I’m very happy it resonated with you, and it’s lovely to meet you here. Your work on the language of the placenta and “umbilical tongue-ing” sounds fascinating, and wonderfully close to these questions of bodies, boundaries and relationships.
I especially love your observation that Darwin is not merely reporting facts but shaping relationships to these wonders—that is so much of what draws me to his writing. I can’t wait to dive into your work as well!
Loverly to meet you too Michael. I’m very excited to find and meet you and to hear about your book and the journey your on. Its going to be fantastic read. It seems we are both in the beginning stages of a similar type of adventure writing into something unknown/sort of. I too like looking into the margins, the grotesque and Bakhtin is a door opener on so many things in his world that we take for granted. (im interested in the monstrous esp re the body) Their ugly/beautiful. I relate too to all the polypy stuff the grit and texture of his observations … I’ve been reading up on Bennet but Grosz is more for me… wonder in the human - but connected to it all-body … after Deleuze everything opened. The world is such an exciting place. I champion your project. Majena
I read this in one sitting. It’s hypnotic. I love the wonder it holds!
I especially loved the last section. The transition from the polyp’s “real genealogical tree”, three generations stuck in one body, to the diagram folding out of the Origin, and then that closing line, "life itself shapeshifting". Time is woven into what a living thing is.
It reminded me of Caspar Henderson’s The Book of Barely Imagined Beings – maybe because I see a similar appetite for creatures that won’t sit still in our language and categories. He retells Borges’s A Bao A Qu, which lives at the foot of a tower and only comes into being when someone climbs it. Its color deepens, and its light brightens step by step but if the climber turns back it hangs there “as if paralyzed, its body incomplete.” Henderson’s interpretation is that unless we enlarge our imaginations to take account of other forms of being, we miss our main task. A body that can’t complete itself alone - it belongs among your polyps :)
Thank you so much, that means a great deal to me. I love the A Bao A Qu connection. Strange bodies have so much to tell us, and biology can be every bit as rich as literature. There are many more curious creatures waiting in Darwin :)
Thank you for introducing me to these beings! they’ve been genuinely inspiring. I agree that biology can be as rich as literature. Looking forward to the rest of the curious creatures.
Next will be the coral reef. May sound less curious and grotesque at first, but it won't disappoint ☺️ Have a wonderful week!
Yay new chapter! I’ve saved this one for the plane ride ✨
Thanks Luna, excited to hear your thoughts!! 😁
I loved this Michael! That delicious question of where does one individual end and the collective begin? Nature really loves rebelling against the neat little categories we like to construct 😂 such a fascinating chapter, thanks for sharing! 👏👏