Symbiosis

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Symbiosis is the persistent, intimate association between organisms of different species. The term was coined by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1879 and encompasses mutualism (both benefit), commensalism (one benefits, the other is unaffected), and parasitism (one benefits at the other’s cost). The common thread is obligate relational entanglement: the organisms’ lives are constituted through their association.

Lynn Margulis’s endosymbiotic theory (1967) demonstrated that the organelles of eukaryotic cells — mitochondria and chloroplasts — originated as free-living bacteria that entered into symbiotic relationships with ancestral cells. The eukaryotic cell is not a unitary organism; it is a symbiotic consortium. The boundary between “self” and “other” at the cellular level is a product of relational history, not an original given.

Objects as relational actors

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Begleri (a skill toy of two beads on a string) as a teaching example for actor-network theory and relational thinking. The two beads form a minimal two-node actor-network: their agency is collective by design, since the string ensures every action on one bead propagates to the other.

The example makes a larger point: objects participate in networks of cultural transmission, personal skill, and community identity. Playing with begleri is not a solitary act but an engagement with generations of practice. The concept connects directly to relationality — entities constituted through their relations rather than existing independently.

Relationality on emsenn.net

Symbiosis

Objects as relational actors