http://programmer.ie/tags/inheritance/ Recent content in Inheritance on Programmer.ie: Modern AI programming Hugo en-us Tue, 11 Aug 2026 01:46:00 +0100 http://programmer.ie/books/digital-life/06-can-it-make-another-one/ Tue, 11 Aug 2026 01:46:00 +0100 http://programmer.ie/books/digital-life/06-can-it-make-another-one/ <p>In the last chapter, we damaged persistent patterns.</p> <p>That gave us:</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-text" data-lang="text"><span style="display:flex;"><span>persistence </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>≠ </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>robustness </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>≠ </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>regeneration </span></span></code></pre></div><p>Now consider a different possibility.</p> <p>Instead of asking whether one organization can continue forever, ask:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Can one organization cause another recognizable organization to appear?</strong></p></blockquote> <p>That is reproduction in its weakest interesting form.</p> <p>But we should be careful immediately.</p> <p>Digital systems make copying cheap.</p> <p>So cheap, in fact, that:</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-text" data-lang="text"><span style="display:flex;"><span>copying </span></span></code></pre></div><p>by itself tells us almost nothing.</p>