What is Life? Among Other Things, It's a Synergistic Effect!

Authors

  • Peter Corning Institute for the Study of Complex Systems

Keywords:

Synergy, Emergence, Evolution, Symbiosis, Hierarchy

Abstract

There have been many different ways of characterizing and describing the phenomenon of life over the years. One aspect that has not often been stressed is lifersquo;s emergent propertiesmdash;the synergies that are produced when many elements or parts combine to produce distinctive new ldquo;wholesrdquo;. Indeed, complex living systems represent a multi-leveled, multi-faceted hierarchy of synergistic effects that has evolved over several billion years. Some of the many examples of synergy at various levels of life are briefly described, and it is emphasized that life is still creating itself and still exploring its potentialities.

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Published

11-10-2008

How to Cite

Corning, P. (2008). What is Life? Among Other Things, It’s a Synergistic Effect!. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 4(1-2), 233–243. Retrieved from http://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/91