From Autocatalysis to Market Relations: A Systems Approach to the Material Flows Needed by Living Systems

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• 作者：Helmut Nechansky
• 刊名：Systems Research and Behavioral Science
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January/February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：34
• 期：1
• 页码：3-23
• 全文大小：408K
• ISSN：1099-1743a

文摘

The paper analyses how the control of material flows needed by living systems determines evolutionary patterns. A simplification of Miller's living systems theory, distinguishing only three functional units, (i) production systems, (ii) storage, and (iii) controller structures, is used to investigate the importance of these units on various evolutionary stages. In the internal evolution of biological systems, storage is crucial to control the availability of intermediate products of autocatalytic cycles. This is the base for continuous production and maintenance of controller structures (brains). In the external, technical evolution storage enables building external production systems and controller structures (like computers). In the dyadic coevolution of living systems, control of material flows and/or storage enable power positions in interaction patterns ranging from competition for scarce resources, via market relations, to egalitarian cooperation. Such power positions open access to different markets and exclusive evolutionary options. Economic theory widely ignores that. Copyright