Autopoiesis

[Uwe Weissflog]

To all,

if you want to follow this thread, some of us already do, look at Fritjof Capra –
The Web of life and Humberto R. Maturana, et al - The Tree of Knowledge : The
Biological Roots of Human Understanding. There are also good sources on the web
concerning autopoiesis. These are sources Margaret Wheatly draws on in her
thinking and writing.

Uwe


FamilyFirm at aol.com wrote:

> 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