Autopoiesis

[Birgitt Bolton]

Okay Joe, but can you elaborate.  The way I see it no matter how much an
acorn wants to seize other possibilities, like maybe become a kitten, the
inevitable oak tends to happen, or death maybe, but never a kitten. I have a
struggle with "out of nothing comes something". Seems to me, there is a
design here. I kind of see it like "in the beginning was Open Space " and
the theme was creation of the universe or one song. And the space was held
in the same way that all good facilitators hold it. From our teeny weeny
perspective, we can't see that facilitator, but from a bigger perspective
the facilitator is clear as clear.

And the first three topics that popped up and were prioritized and acted on
were chaos and order and the dance between the two which is love. Order
provides the designs, the information, the possibilities. Chaos provides the
opportunity to seize the possibilities that are there. And then another
topic got posted and isn't yet really attended to---the topic of random.
Which is related to both chaos and order and is both creator and destroyer.

Birgitt

-----Original Message-----
From:   OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
FamilyFirm at aol.com
Sent:   Thursday, January 21, 1999 4:33 PM
To:     OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject:        Re: Autopoiesis

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