Biology: The dance of open systems

Bertalanffy saw living things—like plants, animals, or you—as “open systems.” This means they’re constantly swapping energy and materials with the outside world to stay alive (Bertalanffy, 1972). Take your body: you eat food, breathe air, and eliminate waste to keep going. That’s an open system at work. He broke it down into two ideas: 

• Statics: How a system keeps itself steady—like your body maintaining its temperature (Bertalanffy, 1972).
• Dynamics: How it changes over time—like growing from a kid to an adult (Bertalanffy, 1972).

Capra (1996) added more layers, suggesting life involves three key things: 

• Pattern: The web of relationships that gives a living thing its shape—like how your organs team up to keep you running.
• Structure: The physical stuff, like bones and muscles.
• Process: The ongoing activity tying it all together—like your heart pumping blood.

Living systems also “self-make” (a fancy term called autopoiesis). Your body, for instance, rebuilds itself constantly—new skin, new cells—all while staying “you” (Capra & Luisi, 2014). They’re “dissipative structures,” meaning they’re open to the environment (think breathing) but have boundaries (like your skin) that keep them distinct (Capra, 1996). Capra even tied this to “cognition”—the ability to sense and respond. Plants don’t have brains, but they still react to sunlight. That’s a kind of knowing.