I believe the comparison the author makes between Turing an Darwin is valid and applies, in general, to any system really. That is, it's very hard to describe

I believe the comparison the author makes between Turing an Darwin is valid and applies, in general, to any system really. That is, it's very hard to describe a system, top-down, as the state of the whole thing at a particular point in time, but it's more feasible to approach a description as the rate of change of all the smaller systems contained within. In other words: it's hard to describe a computer, but it's easier to describe it as a series of computations (Turing machine); it's hard to describe "life", but it's easier to describe it as a series of processes over time (evolution). It's a way of thinking.