Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, Gainesville, FL 32601, United States.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2012 Dec;16(5-6):581-5. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.11.004. Epub 2012 Nov 27.
Physicists frequently allow aesthetics to guide their science. Chemists sometimes do. Biologists rarely do. They have encountered too frequently the consequences of the Darwinian 'hack'. The biological parts delivered by Darwinian processes are rarely simple, efficient, or elegant solutions to the biological problems that they address. Nevertheless, as humans, we seek to find aesthetics within our activities. In general, however, it is hard to distinguish what we say is beautiful from what is, in reality, utilitarian.
物理学家经常让美学指导他们的科学。化学家有时也会这样做。生物学家则很少这样做。他们经常遇到达尔文“黑客”的后果。达尔文过程所提供的生物学部分很少是解决它们所面临的生物学问题的简单、高效或优雅的解决方案。然而,作为人类,我们在活动中寻求美感。然而,一般来说,很难区分我们所说的美与实际上的功利。