Journal on Policy and Complex Systems
3.3 Autopoiesis and the More-mass Criterion for Emergence
How do biological organisms hold together ? The static structure and organization of a biological organism is held together by negative interaction energy — along with some additional topological constraints . However , static structure does not explain how living organisms work . As Schrödinger ( 1944 ) famously pointed out , any physics-based “ lawfulness and orderliness ( of biological organisms ) is made inoperative by heat motion .”
To defend against the disorder resulting from ongoing internal motion , biological organisms continually rebuild and repair themselves . In a review of autopoiesis , 13 Luisi ( 2003 ) argues that all biological organisms have “ a semipermeable chemical boundary ( within which they are ) capable of self-maintenance by a process of self-generation .” The term autopoiesis may be understood to refer to all such self-management activities , including the acquisition of energy ( and other resources ) and the avoidance of hazards .
Social systems — such as families , packs , tribes , colonies , social clubs , societies , corporations , countries , and so on — also hold together through autopoiesis . Flocking , in which birds create flocks as each bird positions itself with respect to its neighbors , serves as a standard example . When applied to social systems autopoiesis may be understood as self-management within a self-created boundary ( Luisi , 2014 ). The boundary may be created simply through the ability to distinguish members from nonmembers .
Abbott ( 2010b ) used the term dynamic emergence for systems that hold themselves together through self-management . Because the ( kinetic ) energy of this ongoing activity is equivalent to a certain amount of mass , autopoietic entities have more mass than the mass of their immediate constituents considered separately . 14
3.4 Symbolic Entities
There is a third class of emergent entities . These include symbolic entities .
Examples include files , records , programs , software objects , etc . 15 These are held together neither by interaction energy nor by self-management ; yet they do not disintegrate . They persist because there is no deterioration within their symbolic environments . The work to keep symbolic structures intact is done
13 The term autopoiesis is sometimes dismissed as vacuous , trivial , overly complex , self-referential , circular , or intentionally mysterious . The original and fundamental idea is that of a system that has the capacity to repair itself . All living systems are autopoietic , but autopoiesis is not sufficient for life . See Razeto-Barry ( 2012 ) for a review of the term ’ s history . 14 This perspective suggests identifying the extra mass as a soul . 15 I am referring to the symbolic aspects of these entities only . Any physical implementation is vulnerable to the same hazards as any other physical phenomenon .
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