“A complete theory of evolution must acknowledge a balance between "external" forces of environment imposing selection for local adaptation and "internal" forces representing constraints of inheritance and development. Vavilov placed too much emphasis on internal constraints and downgraded the power of selection. But Western Darwinians have erred equally in practically ignoring (while acknowledging in theory) the limits placed on selection by structure and development what Vavilov and the older biologists would have called "laws of form.” FormLawForceEnvironmentToo MuchTheoryDevelopmentEvolutionBalanceLimitsStructureWesternLocalsAcknowledgeInternalsEmphasisSelectionAdaptationInheritanceConstraintsRepresentingImposingBiologistTheory Of EvolutionExternal Forces Book:Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History Source: Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History
“We rarely use much debt and, when we do, we attempt to structure it on a long-term fixed rate basis. We will reject interesting opportunities rather than over-leverage our balance sheet. This conservatism has penalized our results but it is the only behavior that leaves us comfortable, considering our fiduciary obligations to policyholders, depositors, lenders and the many equity holders who have committed unusually large portions of their net worth to our care.” LongUseCareOpportunityTermInterestingResultsBalanceBehaviorComfortableBasesStructureRateInvestingCommittedDebtObligationFixedLong TermRejectsPortionsConsideringSheetsEquityConservatismNet WorthLendersBalance SheetsFiduciary Author:Warren Buffett
“We discover too late that we have turned a blind eye to the extinction of a species that is essential to the balance of life in a particular context. Or we discover too late that the importation of a foreign life-form, animal or vegetable, has upset local ecosystems, damaging soil or neighbouring life-forms. We discover that we have come near the end of supplies-of fossil-fuels for example -on which we have built immense structures of routine expectation.” EndsEyeFormAnimalExampleParticularBalanceEssentialsLateExpectationsBuiltBlindStructureSpeciesEnvironmentalLocalsUpsetSoilFuelToo LateRoutineVegetablesImmenseFossilsExtinctionStewardshipSuppliesFossil FuelEcosystemsBlind EyesImportation Book:Faith in the Public Square Source: Faith in the Public Square
“Basically, for any complex to be sustainable needs to have a balance between two factors: resilience and efficiency. These two factors can be calculated from the structure of the network that is involved in a complex system. A resilient, efficient system needs to be diverse and interconnected. On the other hand, diversity and interconnectivity decrease efficiency. Therefore, the key is an appropriate balance between efficiency and resilience.” NeedsTwoHandsKeysBalanceInvolvedDiversityStructureComplexesResilienceFactorsAppropriateEfficientDiverseEfficiencyResilientDecreaseInterconnectedComplex Systems Author:Bernard Lietaer
“I was a little, uh, incorrigible as a kid, so the kitchen was a good place to give me structure and balance. It taught me hard work, but then I grew to love it.” GivingLittlesHardKidsTaughtHard WorkGrewBalanceGive MeStructureKitchenGood PlaceIncorrigible Author:Aaron Sanchez
“Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its parts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other; nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking; and the result is a structure of absolute balance and solid composure.” ReligionPerfectResultsSupportWise WordsBalanceAbsolutesStructureIslamArchitectureIslamicLackingQuranSuperfluousComplementComposureIslamic WisdomPerfect Work Author:Muhammad Asad