Life Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Living systems === {{main|Living systems}} Others take a [[living systems theory]] viewpoint that does not necessarily depend on molecular chemistry. One systemic definition of life is that living things are [[self-organization|self-organizing]] and [[autopoiesis|autopoietic]] (self-producing). Variations of this include [[Stuart Kauffman]]'s definition as an [[autonomous agent]] or a [[multi-agent system]] capable of reproducing itself, and of completing at least one [[thermodynamic cycle|thermodynamic work cycle]].<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Stuart |last1=Kaufmann |title=Science and Ultimate Reality |date=2004 |chapter=Autonomous agents |editor1-first=John D. |editor1-last=Barrow |editor2-last=Davies |editor3-first=C.L. |editor3-last=Harper, Jr. |pages=654–666 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511814990.032 |isbn=978-0-521-83113-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_OfC0Pte_8C&pg=PA654 |editor2-first=P.C.W. |access-date=10 August 2023 |archive-date=5 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105190205/https://books.google.com/books?id=K_OfC0Pte_8C&pg=PA654#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> This definition is extended by the evolution of novel functions over time.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Longo |first1=Giuseppe |last2=Montévil |first2=Maël |last3=Kauffman |first3=Stuart |title=Proceedings of the 14th annual conference companion on Genetic and evolutionary computation |chapter=No entailing laws, but enablement in the evolution of the biosphere |date=1 January 2012 |url=https://www.academia.edu/11720588 |series=GECCO '12 |pages=1379–1392 |doi=10.1145/2330784.2330946 |isbn=978-1-4503-1178-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511103757/http://www.academia.edu/11720588/No_entailing_laws_but_enablement_in_the_evolution_of_the_biosphere |archive-date=11 May 2017 |arxiv=1201.2069 |citeseerx=10.1.1.701.3838 |bibcode=2012arXiv1201.2069L |s2cid=15609415 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page