DESCRIPTION (Self-)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 864 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
H. PATTEE states: “The fundamental fact of life — a fact of such universality that it may be used to define life — is that living systems'' contain their own description” (1977, p.259).
This fact is closely related to autopoiesis, which would be impossible without the existence of a specific template, containing the basic traits of any individualized entity. Self-description also would be a condition for self-reproductive artificial automata.
Nevertheless, L. LÖFGREN observes: “It is important to clarify PATTEE's statement that ”complete self-description of any system is a physical impossibility, though not a logical of formal impossibility“. LÖFGREN observes: ”If complete self-description is meant to describe all of the description process itself (including both description and interpretation), then it is logically impossible. This has been shown by TARSKY, and somewhat later by GÖDEL“ (1979, p.247).
The uncompleteness of self-description explains why no system is ever able to reproduce itself forever. It is autonomous and organizationally closed, but never independent of basic conditions that transcend it.