"Anthony Cerrato"  wrote in message
news:cetl73$lte$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> "Perplexed in Peoria"  wrote in
> message news:ceru6h$48v$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> > It seems that your slime beast is "autopoietic".
> > In fact, this word was invented with specifically
> > this issue in mind. It is an attempt to characterize
> > "life" as something different than reproduction or
> > replication.
>
> Yes indeed! That is a perfect word, if a little awkward in
> common conversational use--but an autopoietic system
> is exactly what I meant--any dissipative structure, i.e.,
> non-equilibrium dynamic system, perfectly mimics life, be it
> a chemical clock reaction, or Jupiter's Great Red Spot! It
> seems appropriate for a more general definition of life,
> including non-replicating life. Thanks,

Careful!  An autopoietic system and a dissipative structure
are not necessarily the same thing.  I'm not sure that
Maturana and Varella intended "autopoietic" to include
such simple systems as Prigogine's dissipative structures.
Dissipative structures tend to be less homeostatic than
autopoietic systems.  While DSs maintain their existence
over a range of environments, they do not necessarily
maintain their form.  Nonetheless, the definition of
"autopoietic" could conceivably be stretched to include them.
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