>I confess some frustration that it seems that artificially created
>"autopoiesis" is possible, while my intuition tells me that something big is
>missing here...
As I've said earlier, there are exactly two paths to autopoiesis, either
"bottom-up" or "top-down". The bottom-up path is the intertwining of several
dissipative structures (nodes) into one circular organization. The top-down path
is the *constructed* autopoiesis. This originates in a field of construction,
i.e. an evolutionary system of some sort. Different "legal" constructions are
e.g. self-re-production (mitosis, meiosis) or aggregation in a
social system (culture formation, mind formation).
>So I would agree with Onar that "largely self-organized" may be the better
>description. But this seems to eliminate "self-organization" as a
>distinguishing feature that is present only in living things.
The term dissipative self-organization has a very specific meaning, which you
correctly noted, namely Prigogine's meaning of the term.
>but I
>understand a dissipative structure (per I.Prigogine) as one which maintains a
>low entropy (ordered) state through conversion of low entropy
>items(high-frequency sunlight, protein, etc.) from its environment into
>higher-entropy items (radiated heat, etc). This is the central feature of a
>metabolic process.
As I understand the term, dissipative systems are 1) far from equilibrium, 2)
they produce a non-random boundary over which they dissipate energy.
The important keyword here is "non-random boundary". By spewing entropy over its
boundary the system produces NEGENTROPY on the inside of the boundary. The
result is that the system becomes an order pump. It pumps order into the system
from nowhere by disordering its environment. This seems to what you are saying,
in different words.
>But not all metabolic/dissipative systems are in continuous use. Dormant
>bacteria and viruses don't appear to 'metabolize' or 'dissipate'. Do dry
>seeds? Should we consider them alive?
I didn't know that bacteria also were dormant, but viruses are definitely not
alive. The reason that dissipative structures (as defined by Prigogine) is an
absolute necessity for life is that they constitute the sensational domain of
the organism. A more informing term for dissipative structure is perhaps
*friction* produced structures. That is, structures which only exist due to
friction in the system. It is this friction which constitutes sensation. Without
that friction the system cannot sense.
Onar.