Assembly Theory

Why do we tend to see organic compounds emerge before flora like dandelions and oak trees?

Why doesn’t nature make spaceships, but humans—a product of nature—do?

One way to frame these questions is through the lens of evolution: nature doesn’t have any reason to evolve a spaceship, whereas humans make a lot of sense when you think in terms of biological systems shaped by survival-of-the-most-adaptable-style decision-trees.

Another useful lens, though, is that of complexity: dandelions are infinitely more complex than, for instance, methane, though methane (and other such compounds) are often constituent parts of plants and animals.