Your Body is a Gross Kludge

Evolution seems to achieve new capabilities mainly by adding complexity. The designs it produces do not have the properties that we like to see in software: simplicity, separation of concerns, "do one thing and do it well," and all that.

Early in my marriage to Dawn, I had the idea of co-writing a paper titled, "Your Body is a Gross Kludge, So How Come It Works So Much Better Than Your Software?" She declined.

**Item**: the Urinary System

**Item**: The Immune System

A problem with such a paper is that the sensible response is: "Yes, and? What practical advice do you have?" I don't really have any. The body is not designed to be *understandable*, but software has to be.