--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Organs are supple and capable of adapting…" description: "\"“Organs are supple and capable of adapting to different situations and domains. Finally, they are open to development, and this is precisely what “stab..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/ulrich-m-ller-19704_organs_organs-are-supple-and-capable-of-adaptin_2957503.jpg" --- # Organs are supple and capable of adapting to different… ![“Organs are supple and capable of adapting to different situations and domains. Finally, they are open to development, and this is precisely what “stable systems” (Case, 1992a, p. 5) are not. But organs are much more complex than such systems, and it is much more difficult to understand them.” quote by Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/ulrich-m-ller-19704_organs_organs-are-supple-and-capable-of-adaptin_2957503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/ulrich-m-ller-19704_organs_organs-are-supple-and-capable-of-adaptin_2957503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/ulrich-m-ller-19704_organs_organs-are-supple-and-capable-of-adaptin_2957503.jpg) > ““Organs are supple and capable of adapting to different situations and domains. Finally, they are open to development, and this is precisely what “stable systems” (Case, 1992a, p. 5) are not. But organs are much more complex than such systems, and it is much more difficult to understand them.”” [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Organs are adaptable and complex, unlike rigid stable systems, making them harder to understand. **In simple terms:** Organs adapt, stable systems don’t. Key Takeaway Study complex adaptive systems. Themes biology complexity adaptation Mood curious analytical Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - medical research - engineering design - education - policy making Key Concepts systems theory organism stability Questions to Reflect On - How can we model organ adaptability? - What limits our understanding of complex systems? A Different Perspective Stable systems may oversimplify reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Different Situations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-situations/) [Difficult To Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-to-understand/) [Organs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organs/) ## Related quotes > [I'll adapt to any situation. I've been adapting to different situations my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-angelo-russell/i-ll-adapt-to-any-situation-i-ve-been-adapting-to-different/) [D'Angelo Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-angelo-russell/) > [Wherever we find orderly, stable systems in Nature, we find that they are hierarchically structured, for the simple reason that without such structuring of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/wherever-we-find-orderly-stable-systems-in-nature-we-find-that-they/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [That is what Test cricket is about, adapting to different conditions around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-agnew/that-is-what-test-cricket-is-about-adapting-to-different-conditions/) [Jonathan Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-agnew/) > [I think sometimes I tap into other people. I sometimes write about other things that I see or just different situations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-tedeschi/i-think-sometimes-i-tap-into-other-people-i-sometimes-write-about/) [Susan Tedeschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-tedeschi/) > [I'm not the kind of actor who's going to fit well with a long-running series unless that series offers me the chance to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-lester/i-m-not-the-kind-of-actor-who-s-going-to-fit-well-with-a-long-running/) [Adrian Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-lester/) > [I'm interested in how identity is transient. How do we know who we really are, when different situations and environments dictate how we behave?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-and-the-diamonds/i-m-interested-in-how-identity-is-transient-how-do-we-know-who-we/) [Marina and the Diamonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-and-the-diamonds/) > [“ Exposure Therapy Exposure therapy, also known as desensitization, works best with very specific anxieties and phobias. For example, Jessica is deathly afraid of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-moehn/exposure-therapy-exposure-therapy-also-known-as-desensitization-works/) [Heather Moehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-moehn/) > [I live in a mind melt of different situations, through my work and social life - I wouldn't have it any other way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-cairney/i-live-in-a-mind-melt-of-different-situations-through-my-work-and/) [Gemma Cairney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-cairney/) > [I think that in order for music to be heard in a lot of different situations you have to always consider that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-edmonds/i-think-that-in-order-for-music-to-be-heard-in-a-lot-of-different/) [Kenneth Edmonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-edmonds/) > [“A learned society of our day, no doubt with the loftiest of intentions, has proposed the question, “Which people, in history, might have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/a-learned-society-of-our-day-no-doubt-with-the-loftiest-of-intentions/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [“The presentation of self in everyday life. This guy Goffman had the idea that in different situations, you perform yourself differently. Your character isn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-lockhart/the-presentation-of-self-in-everyday-life-this-guy-goffman-had-the/) [E. Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-lockhart/) > [Working hard for yourself & being selfish are different situations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/working-hard-for-yourself-being-selfish-are-different-situations/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you are you, 24 hours a day, then you do not have to remember who you are supposed to be in different situations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dixon/if-you-are-you-24-hours-a-day-then-you-do-not-have-to-remember-who/) [Bill Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dixon/) > [“As long as one is in pursuit of something or the other, it is an endless process. As long as we are getting identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhguru/as-long-as-one-is-in-pursuit-of-something-or-the-other-it-is-an/) [Sadhguru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhguru/) > [Kids don't like being put into boxes, and your kid can act in different ways in different situations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/kids-don-t-like-being-put-into-boxes-and-your-kid-can-act-in/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) ## More by Ulrich Müller > [“Because psychologists generally take knowledge as unproblematic, the complexity of Piagetian theory seems simply superfluous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/because-psychologists-generally-take-knowledge-as-unproblematic-the/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“the main problem of any epistemology is in fact to understand how the mind succeeds in constructing necessary relationships, which appear to be independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/the-main-problem-of-any-epistemology-is-in-fact-to-understand-how-the/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“Empiricism is not just an empirical method but also a theory of experience. Essentially, it conceives of human beings as passive and sense perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/empiricism-is-not-just-an-empirical-method-but-also-a-theory-of/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“According to Piaget, the central idea of empiricism is that “the function of cognitive mechanisms is to submit to reality, copying its features as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/according-to-piaget-the-central-idea-of-empiricism-is-that-the/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“Piaget (1961/1966, pp. 152–153) made the same commitments as Kant: Normative properties are required for knowing reality, and so, following Kant, such properties are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/piaget-1961-1966-pp-152-153-made-the-same-commitments-as-kant/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“Social contexts provide ubiquitous cases of the same point: If one bottle of beer costs £1, six individual bottles may cost £6, whereas a six-pack costs £5.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/social-contexts-provide-ubiquitous-cases-of-the-same-point-if-one/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“Kant did not explain the origin of these judgments but assumed that they were attained by abstraction from the activity of the soul, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/kant-did-not-explain-the-origin-of-these-judgments-but-assumed-that/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“Kant argued that the mind has both receptive capacities and spontaneous capabilities, both operative in human knowledge. For Kant (1787/1933, B74, B93), knowledge has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/kant-argued-that-the-mind-has-both-receptive-capacities-and/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“Jackson, I. (1987). On situating Piaget’s subject: A triangulation based on Kant, structuralism, and biology. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 17, 471–486.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/jackson-i-1987-on-situating-piaget-s-subject-a-triangulation-based-on/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“From an epistemological perspective, a person is a uniform being who interprets the different parts of her conscious knowledge in a coherent fashion (or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/from-an-epistemological-perspective-a-person-is-a-uniform-being-who/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“As a biologist, Piaget considered cognitive development to be part of a much more general tendency of living systems to grow, change, improve and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/as-a-biologist-piaget-considered-cognitive-development-to-be-part-of/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“It is important to recall at the outset that by a cognitive equilibrium (which is analogous to the stability of a living organism) we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/it-is-important-to-recall-at-the-outset-that-by-a-cognitive/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“An excellent overview of the development of Piaget's theory is provided by Chapman (1988) and more specifically about equilibration in a paper from 1992 (Chapman, 1992).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/an-excellent-overview-of-the-development-of-piaget-s-theory-is/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“the relevance of epistemology for the study of psychology and psychological development is that epistemological assumptions often remain tacit. Practically, this amounts to many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/the-relevance-of-epistemology-for-the-study-of-psychology-and/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [“In the preface of his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant (1787/1933, B XVI) refers in the same way to the Copernican Revolution. He points…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/in-the-preface-of-his-critique-of-pure-reason-kant-1787-1933-b-xvi/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) [Explore all 32 Ulrich Müller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) ## More Organs quotes > [Bruce Katz is a spectacular talent! He's a brilliant composer and arranger who uses uncommon and unique musical intelligence to redefine jazz and blues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-coryell/bruce-katz-is-a-spectacular-talent-he-s-a-brilliant-composer-and/) [Larry Coryell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-coryell/) > [With the arrival of electric technology, man has extended, or set outside himself, a live model of the central nervous system itself. To the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/with-the-arrival-of-electric-technology-man-has-extended-or-set/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [I never could keep a promise. I do not blame myself for this weakness, because the fault must lie in my physical organization. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-could-keep-a-promise-i-do-not-blame-myself-for-this-weakness/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The vast majority of us imagine ourselves as like literature people or math people. But the truth is that the massive processor known as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-vast-majority-of-us-imagine-ourselves-as-like-literature-people/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Descriptive anatomy is to physiology what geography is to history, and just as it is not enough to know the typography of a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/descriptive-anatomy-is-to-physiology-what-geography-is-to-history-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Homologue. The same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/homologue-the-same-organ-in-different-animals-under-every-variety-of/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [A woman after my own heart. (Stryker) You’re absolutely right about that. Nothing would please me more than ripping that organ out of you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/a-woman-after-my-own-heart-stryker-you-re-absolutely-right-about-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [The principal organs of the Left...has consistently been warm and welcoming toward Islamic supremacism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-spencer/the-principal-organs-of-the-left-has-consistently-been-warm-and/) [Robert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-spencer/) > [Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/unlike-the-primate-hand-the-elephant-s-grasping-organ-is-also-its/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [Women have seldom sufficient employment to silence their feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away all strength of mind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/women-have-seldom-sufficient-employment-to-silence-their-feelings-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Physiology, in its analysis of the physiological functions of the sense organs, must use the results of subjective observation of sensations; and psychology, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-wundt/physiology-in-its-analysis-of-the-physiological-functions-of-the/) [Wilhelm Wundt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-wundt/) > [The senses are the organs by which man places himself in connexion with exterior objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-senses-are-the-organs-by-which-man-places-himself-in-connexion/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [My left descending septal branch artery decided to close without consultation with any of my other organs. It happened on Saint Patrick's Day, 1978.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/my-left-descending-septal-branch-artery-decided-to-close-without/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [The oldest, truest, most beautiful organ of music, the origin to which alone our music owes its being, is the human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-oldest-truest-most-beautiful-organ-of-music-the-origin-to-which/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The circulatory system of man and the vertebrate animals can be considered as made up of a small number of organs or subordinate systems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-krogh/the-circulatory-system-of-man-and-the-vertebrate-animals-can-be/) [August Krogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-krogh/) [Browse all 788 Organs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Organs are supple and capable of adapting to different situations and domains. 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