Form, Function, and Continuity: Knowledge on the Move

During historical processes, transformations are collectively carried out over a certain time span, and when examined over a long period they appear to be an ongoing development, without breaks. Nature’s processes likewise exhibit an apparent continuity. However, undulatory descriptions in physics have unveiled how aspects of continuity can be associated with discontinuities. “Pilot” or “empty” waves have opened up new windows to explain hitherto mysterious phenomena. The author is convinced that such approach can be extended to other domains of natural history, such as fluid mechanics, chemistry, geology, cosmology, and others. A particularly fruitful application of this approach can be found in the biological field. Although few contemporary biologists continue to support a genetically functional, i.e., causal, morphology, the evolution of form cannot be isolated from the development of function, both displaying the paradoxes between continuity and discontinuity. Emphasis on a certain teleology is not only unavoidable, but actually it is recommendable to bridge the discontinuity gap, as applicable to various sciences. This text is an effort to notice how entangled certain historical and epistemological problems can become.