%0 Journal Article
%T Extending Life Concepts to Complex Systems
%A Jean Le Fur
%J Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems
%D 2013
%I Croatian Interdisciplinary Society
%X There is still no consensus definition of complex systems. This article explores, as a heuristic approach, the possibility of using notions associated with life as transversal concepts for defining complex systems. This approach is developed within a general classification of systems, with complex systems considered as a general ¡®living things¡¯ category and living organisms as a specialised class within this category. Concepts associated with life are first explored in the context of complex systems: birth, death and lifetime, adaptation, ontogeny and growth, reproduction. Thereafter, a refutation approach is used to test the proposed classification against a set of diverse systems, including a reference case, edge cases and immaterial complex systems. The summary of this analysis is then used to generate a definition of complex systems, based on the proposal, and within the background of cybernetics, complex adaptive systems and biology. Using notions such as ¡®birth¡¯ or ¡®lifespan¡¯ as transversal concepts may be of heuristic value for the generic characterization of complex systems, opening up new lines of research for improving their definition.
%K complex systems
%K life concepts
%K refutation approach
%K heuristic
%U http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/141438