MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS 



What has been gained by so translating the genetic 

 argument is that it has been made far more generaL 

 Recalling the essential equivalence of the random 

 changes occurring in polymerizing colloids to the mu- 

 tations in living material, the development of inani- 

 mate matter into more complex forms and finally into 

 primitive living forms does now appear to be part of 

 a consistent pattern. All this again points into the 

 direction of the assumption that under certain environ- 

 mental conditions, life is a consequence of the "com- 

 plexification" of matter. 



Whether this tendency of matter to ''grow more 

 complex" is actually subject to a law of nature which 

 is in effect opposed to the law of degradation is a ques- 

 tion on which there is considerable difference of 

 opinion. Most physical scientists hold that the process 

 of *'complexification" is the additive result of low 

 probability happenings which can (at least in theory) 

 be accounted for on a mathematical basis. Many biol- 

 ogists on the other hand claim that the evolution of 

 living things cannot be accounted for in this manner, 

 and insist that a clear "building up" process exists in 

 the universe. 



55 



