The parsimony rule comes instead from applying a biomimicry perspective to materials in the biosphere. The Periodic Table of the Elements encompass the 88 naturally occurring elements from arsenic to xenon. Yet despite this diversity of options, the biosphere relies on four elements—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen (CHON)—as the foundation of every living thing on earth. Adding trace amounts of sulfur, phosphorus and calcium we can account for the weight of 99 percent of every living thing on the planet. Parsimony in the biosphere makes it possible break down an organism like a rabbit locally and reassemble its constituent materials into a tree, mushroom or even another rabbit.
