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Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
The general entity of life: a cybernetic approach
1Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automation, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, Chair of Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059, Cracow, Poland, azbielecki@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Life, not only in the well-known context of biochemical metabolism but also in the context of hypothetical life synthesized laboratorially or possibly found on other planets, is considered in this paper. The three-component information-energetic-structural irreducible processing in autonomous systems is the core of the proposed approach. The cybernetic organization of a general entity of life--the alivon--is postulated. The crucial properties of life and evolution are derived from the proposed approach. Information encoded in biological structures is also studied.
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