Why biology dissolves into soup: Hyperbolic geometry explains metamorphosis
RexDouglass · x · 2026-09-02
A Twitter thread by @bzogrammer draws a fascinating parallel between hyperbolic geometry and biological metamorphosis.
In hyperbolic spaces, the shortest path between two random, unrelated points often passes close to the origin. This explains why organisms like caterpillars dissolve into a "soup" inside their cocoons before becoming butterflies.
To transform from one complex structure to a radically different one, nature takes the path of least resistance: digesting the old body into raw materials (while preserving air channels and neural tissue) and building a new insect from scratch. It's an "existential horror" derived from math.
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