Life and Completeness in Complex Systems
摘要
In this last chapter, we argue that living systems aim for low incompleteness and “seek” an agreement, leading to well-defined contexts and stable (nonelastic) states. To use the metaphor of the labyrinth, maintaining a low level of incompleteness is tantamount to finding a single maze and its exit among a series of possible labyrinths. This is only possible if the close interrelationship between individual interacting elements and their context is taken into account. This also implies that life is unlikely to be summed up in a single equation or statistical description. We review the standard theories of complex systems and argue that there are natural limits to the mathematical representation of complex systems. We also speculate on how life could play a much more fundamental role than we thought and think about the next steps and open questions.