[ba-unrev-talk] The Ecosystemic Life Hypothesis
http://ecosystemics.org/ecosyslife.htm (01)
"The ecosystemic life hypothesis inverts the current working assumption
that life originated and developed from the cell or organism in the general
to the ecosystem in the specific. It also alters the assumption that
ecological dynamics are strictly emergent properties arising - from the
bottom-up - from interactions of many independent organisms or agents.
Instead, organisms are seen as emergent properties of ecological dynamics
of energy flow coupled to nutrient cycling. The irreducible or
nonfractionable kernel of complexity is the interoperating
composer-decomposer system of energy capture and materials cycling. Depew
and Weber (1995) state this inversion as the position of a school of
thought within systems ecology: "From their perspective, ecosystems are not
perspicuously viewed as loosely integrated superorganisms... On the
contrary, reformed systems ecologists tend to view organisms as very
tightly integrated ecological systems." If this systems ecological approach
turns out to be better than an organism-centric approach to understanding
life, it could have great implications for how we conduct ecological and
life science. (02)
Whole-part integration - the focus on understanding the part-to-whole
relationships in living systems - is a synthesis of reductionism and
holism. This hybrid paradigm promises new concepts and new approaches to
old problems that can enable meaningful development of the concept of
ecological health, as well as other benefits perhaps imaginable. For
example, could the ecosystemic life and part-to-whole approach enable
design of human systems such that emergent properties, while not fully
controllable or predictable, can be steered toward the beneficial? The
ultimate benchmark for system health and quality, as well as the ultimate
role model, mentor and design guide for human policy and development
realms, may well be life itself." (03)