> Terms I would like to see defined are:
>
> self-producing
Involves the fact that a system [my reference is most of the time an
organisms] can establish a flow of material that keeps the structure
of itsselve stable. So a bacteria eats, and the material it eats is
used to get energy needed for the flow, and the material is used to
build itsselve.
> self-reproducing
To copy itsselve. Obviously reproduction in biology is an example,
where one living system can make a copy of itsselve, or two can mix
[sexual reproduction] and reproduce. So there is also some sort of
replication invloved, meaning that some structures are reproduced in
a way so that they are structurally the same [genes].
> self-referential
Being the fact that a living system can only react to outside
information by its own criteria, set by its own mechanisms for
reaction. These machanisms can be said to be vicarious selectors. So
the mechanisms for reaction are inside, and the system itsselve
'decides' what are the stimuli to respond. Of course if the criteria
in the internal system are wrong, the system might be destroyed. For
instance if a mouse is not scared by a cat, it might not survive.
> autopoeitic
Being a system that self-produces in a self-referential way. I am not
sure if you can self-produce without self-referentiality.
> reproductive
? what's the difference with self-reproduction?
> self-organised
Having an organization that is not 'designed' from outside, or
planned conciously, but that arizes or emerges from within.
cheers
Theories come and go, the frog stays [F. Jacob]
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