Autopoiesis

[FamilyFirm at aol.com]

Earlier references to self-orgaizing systems drew me to something I read a
while ago that is relevant to OS.  It is from "A Simpler Way" by Margaret
Wheatly (page 46-47)

"Life wants to happen.  It calls itself into existence. Out of all information
and all possibilities, an entity comes into form.  An identity emerges.  A
self has created itself.  This process of self-creation is visible everwhere.
It is life taking form, creativity made visible, meaning becoming shape.  It
is self organization."

"Self organization is the capacity of life to invent itself. Out of nothing
comes something. No externally imposed plans or designs are required. This
process of invention always takes shape around identity. There is a self that
seeks to organize, to make its presence known.  The desires of self set a
self-organizing world in motion.  Two biologists, Humbreto Maturana and
Francisco Varela, believe that this capacity of a self to create itself
distinguishes the living from the dead.  They name this process 'autopoiesis'
- meaning self-producing.  LIfe began with this ability to self-produce.  All
living systems have this ability to create themselves, not just initially, but
as the continuous process of their lives."

Joe