Document: Modelling Autopoiesis: Harder Than It May Seem!

I think there are a few worthwhile points to this story.

First: that science, in its necessary sociality, relies on scientists being open and willing to engage in critical assessments of their own work. In this respect, I am left with an abiding admiration for Francisco Varela, who happily and enthusiastically took up the critical challenge with which I presented him, and was unfailingly courteous and open in his responses. The tale could never have had a satisfying resolution otherwise.

Secondly, that science is actually an art!

By which I mean that it is not a specific method or process or algorithm by which knowledge is somehow guaranteed, but is rather a challenge and an adventure, where failure is at least as common as success, and luck, intuition, and entirely informal judgments play a pervasive role. I imagine that most scientists already know all this; but we somehow feel a need to disguise or hide it. Perhaps it's time to come clean.

Finally, that science is open and unlimited . Entirely new domains of enquiry, such as ALife, can and do emerge, and can be subjected to the hard scientific criterion of independent, critical, testing.

References

Modelling Autopoiesis: Harder Than It May Seem!

4 The Resolution

Document: Modelling Autopoiesis: Harder Than It May Seem!

mcmullin@eeng.dcu.ie

5 Epilogue