Plants and what distinguishes them

Plants and what distinguishes them from machines
Machines are designed by man. In many cases the design is based on empirical rules, but
with increasing knowledge and computing capacities the options to model processes and
constructions of machines based on physical models and physical laws are enlarged. In
cases where structures are too complex to base the models directly on physical laws,
numerical models are used, comprising up-to-date insights into materials and experiences.
Without the superior knowledge of the humans that employ the machine, no machine
would work for long.
Plants just exist as extremely complex functioning entities. They are not dependent on
humans having insight into how they function. As a result from millions of years of
evolution they have developed a high variability and complexity, depending on adaptations
needed to survive in specific environments. While even complex machines show distinct
and limited levels of complexity and interaction, in the post-genomic era man still has very
restricted access to the construction plans of plants.
Machines have become more complex over time and with progress, but understanding
plants is and has always been a complicated matter. From this point of view it is very
significant and admirable what biological scientists have been able to elucidate about the
function of plants during the last centuries.