Bart Stewart -- Living Systems

L I V I N G S Y S T E M S

INTRODUCTION

**THE 20 CRITICAL SUBSYSTEMS OF A LIVING SYSTEM**
SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS BOTH MATTER-ENERGY AND INFORMATION 1. Reproducer, the subsystem which carries out the instructions in the genetic information or charter of a system and mobilizes matter, energy, and information to produce one or more similar systems.
2. Boundary, the subsystem at the perimeter of a system that holds together the compnents which make up the system, protects them from environmental stresses, and excludes or permits entry to various sorts of matter-energy and information.
SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS MATTER-ENERGY	SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION
3. Ingestor, the subsystem which brings matter-energy across the system boundary from the envionment.	11. Input transducer, the sensory subsystem which brings markers bearing information into the system,changing them to other matter-energy forms suitable for transmission within it.
	12. Internal transducer, the sensory subsystem which receives, from subsystems or components within the system, markers bearing information about significant alterations in those subsystems or components, changing them to other matter-energy forms of a sort which can be transmitted within it.
4. Distributor, the subsystem which carries inputs from outside the system or outputs from its subsystems around the system to each component.	13. Channel and net, the subsystem composed of a single route in physical space, or multiple interconnected routes, over which markers bearing information are transmitted to all parts of the system.
	14. Timer, the subsystem which transmits to the decider information about time-related states of the environment or of compunents of the system. This information signals the decider of the system or deciders of sybsystems to start, stop, alter the rate, or advance or delay the phase of one or more of the system's processes, thus coordinating them in time.
5. Converter, the subsystem which changes certain inputs to the system into forms more useful for the special processes of that particular system.	15. Decoder, the subsystem which alters the code of information input to it through the input transducer or internal transducer into a "private" code that can be used internally by the system.
6. Producer, the subsystem which forms stable associations that endure for significant periods among matter-energy inputs to the system or outputs from its converter, the materials synthesized being for growth, damage repair, or replacement of components of the system, or for providing energy for moving or constituting the system's outputs of products of information markers to its suprasystem.	16. Associator, the subsystem which carries out the first stage of the learning process, forming enduring associations among items of information in the system.
7. Matter-energy storage, the subsystem which places matter or energy at some location in the system, retains it over time, and retrieves it.	17. Memory, the subsystem which carries out the second stage of the learning process, storing information in the system for different periods of time, and then retrieving it.
	18. Decider, the executive subsystem which receives information inputs from all other subsystems and transmits them to information outputs for guidance, coordination, and control of the system.
	19. Encoder, the subsystem which alters the code of information input to it from other information processing subsystems, from a "private" code used internally by the system into a "public" code which can be interpreted by other systems in its environment.
8. Extruder, the subsystem which transmits matter-energy out of the system in the form of products or waste. 9. Motor, the subsystem which moves the system of parts of it in relation to part or all of its environment or moves components of its environment in relation to each other.	20. Output transducer, the subsystem which puts out markers bearing information from the system, changing markers within the system into other matter-energy forms which can be transmitted over channels in the system's environment.
10. Supporter, the subsystem which maintains the proper spatial relationships among components of the system, so that they can interact without weighing each other down or crowding each other.

SELECTED MAJOR COMPONENTS OF EACH OF THE 20 CRITICAL
SUBSYSTEMS AT EACH OF THE EIGHT LEVELS OF LIVING SYSTEMS
	CELL	ORGAN	ORGANISM	GROUP	ORGANIZATION	COMMUNITY	SOCIETY	SUPRANATIONAL SYSTEM
REPRODUCER	Chromosomes; genes of parent cells	Upwardly dispersed to organism	Testes, ovaries, uterus, genitalia	Mating dyad	Chartering group	National legislature that grants state status to territory	Constitutional convention that writes national constitution	United Nations when it creates new supranational agency
BOUNDARY	Matter-energy and information: plasma membrane	Capsule or outer cell layer	Matter-energy and information: skin or other outer covering	Matter-energy: inspect soldiers Information: television rules in family	Matter-energy: guards at entrance to plant Information: librarian	Matter-energy: agricultural inspection officers Information: movie censors	Matter-energy: customs service Information: security agency	Matter-energy: troops at Berlin Wall Information: NATO security personnel
INGESTOR	Coated pits	Input artery	Mouth, nose, skin in some species	Refreshment chairman of social club	Receiving department	Airport authority of city	Immigration service	Legislative body that admits nations
DISTRIBUTOR	Microtubules and motor molecules	Intercellular fluid	Vascular system of higher animals	Father who serves dinner	Assembly line	County school bus drivers	Operators of national railroads	Personnel who operate supranational power grids
CONVERTER	Enzymes that split molecules	Upwardly dispersed to organism	Upper gastrointestinal tract	Work group member who cuts cloth	Operators of oil refinery	City stockyard organization	Nuclear industry	EURATOM, CERN, IAEA
PRODUCER	Nucleus, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum	Upwardly dispersed to organism	Organs that synthesize materials for metabolism and repair	Family member who cooks	Factory production unit	Bakery	All farmers and factory workers of a community	World Health Organization
MATTER-ENERGY STORAGE	Triglyceride molecules in fat cells	Central lumen of glands	Fatty tissues	Family member who puts away groceries	Stockroom personnel	County jail officials	Guards at national armory	International storage dams and reservoirs
EXTRUDER	Synaptic terminals of neurons	Output vein	Sweat glands of animal skin	Mother who puts out trash	Janitorial staff	City sanitation department	Export organizations of a country	Downwardly dispersed to societies
MOTOR	Cilia, flagellae, pseudopodia	Smooth muscle, cardiac muscle	Skeletal muscle of higher animals	Driver of family car	Crew of company jet	City transit authority	Trucking industry	Operators of United Nations motor pool
SUPPORTER	Cytoskeleton	Stroma	Skeleton	Birds that build nests	Building repair and maintenance personnel	Maintenance crew at capitol building	Officials who operate national public buildings and lands	People who maintain international headquarters buildings
INPUT TRANSDUCER	Receptor site for hormone on plasma membrane	Receptor cell of sense organ	Sense organs	Lookout of a gang of thieves	Secretaries who take incoming calls	Representatives who report from state capital to local voters	Foreign news services	UN assembly hearing speaker from nonmember territory
INTERNAL TRANSDUCER	Cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP	Specialized cell of sinoatrial node of heart	Sensory cells in organs	Group member who reports members' attitudes to group decider	Factory quality control unit	Neighborhood watch groups	Public opinion polling organizations; voters	Speaker from member country to supranational meeting
CHANNEL AND NET	Openings through receptors on membranes	Nerve net of organ	Blood vascular system, nervous system	Person-to-person communication channels among members	All users of corporate phone network	Telephone linesmen in city	Telephone and communications organization	Universal Postal Union (UPU)
TIMER	Oscillating biochemical process, as in mitotic clock	Heart pacemaker	Suprachiasmatic nuclei of hypothalamus	Mother who awakens other family members on time	People who operate factory whistle	Caretakers of clock on city hall tower	Legislators who decide on time and zone changes	Personnel of Greenwich Observatory
DECODER	Molecular binding sites	Second echelon cell of sense organ	Sensory nuclei	Member who explains rules to team	Foreign language translation group	Attorney General of state who interprets law	Cryptographers	Simultaneous translation staff of supranational organization
ASSOCIATOR	(unknown)	None found; upwardly dispersed to organism	Unknown neural components	Parents who teach good behavior	People who train new employees	City schoolteachers	All teaching institutions of a country	FAO units that teach farming methods in Third World nations
MEMORY	(unknown)	None found; upwardly dispersed to organism	Unknown neural components	Father who stores family records	Filing department	Operators of central police computer	Keepers of national archives	Librarians of UN libraries
DECIDER	Binding sites for information transmissions	Sympathetic fibers of sinoatrial node of heart	Neural components at several echelons	Parents; family council	Top executives, department heads, middle managers	Governor, legislators, judges of state	Voters and officials of national government	Council of ministers of the European communities
ENCODER	Gene that specifies hormone	Synthetic components of output neurons	Temporo-parietal area of dominant hemisphere of human cortex	Writer of group communication	Annual report writers	Writers of city ordinances	Drafters of treaties	UN Office of Public Information
OUTPUT TRANSDUCER	Presynaptic vesicles of neuron	Presynaptic region of output neuron	Larynx	Jury foreman	Pulic relations department	Representatives from state to national legislature	National representatives to international meetings	Top official who announces decisions of supranational body

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