One of the key problems in biological and social sciences is that the classic reductionist model of science does not work. After understanding or specifying the components of an atom, the properties of the components and their interactions with each other then you fully understand the atom. However, even after fully specifying the neural pathways of a nematode worm and how each neuron and cell in the worm interacts, we still do not understand how the worm swallows. This is the problem.

In a quick and dirty essay inspired by discussions in the Conceptual Foundations of Systems Biology seminar series and available here, I argue that understanding involves both reduction and antireduction, and that the antireduction is implicit and invisible in sciences such as physics and chemistry. Inspired by Werner's logical model of agent's, social structures and communication I speculate about a way that the problem of antireduction could plausibly be addressed.