坐在他的办公室里，他做了一个不错的数学模型，他从来没有想到他认为缺陷实际上是必需品。看：当我在导弹上工作时，我们处理了一种叫做“共鸣偏航”的东西。共鸣的偏航意味着，即使导弹只有略微不稳定，但这是绝望的。它不可避免地会失控，而且无法带回。这是机械系统的特征。在整个系统崩溃之前，有些摇摆会变得更糟。但是那些相同的摇摆对于生活系统至关重要。它们意味着该系统健康且响应迅速。
(Sitting in his office, he made a nice mathematical model, and it never occurred to him that what he saw as defects were actually necessities. Look: when I was working on missiles, we dealt with something called 'resonant yaw.' Resonant yaw meant that, even though a missile was only slightly unstable off the pad, it was hopeless. It was inevitably going to go out of control, and it couldn't be brought back. That's a feature of mechanical systems. A little wobble can get worse until the whole system collapses. But those same little wobbles are essential to a living system. They mean the system is healthy and responsive.)