Causality in complex systems/Workshop 2/Notes/Table of Entity Types
From CSWiki
| Table from “The reductionist blindspot”. |
Naturally occurring |
Human designed |
|
|
Energy Status |
Static. At an energy equilibrium; in an “energy well.” Supervenience is useful. |
Atoms, molecules, solar systems, … Homeostatic mechanisms: lowest energy state. |
Tables, boats, houses, cars, ships, … Homeostatic mechanisms: few; generally dependent on “maintenance” processes, |
|
Dynamic. Must import energy (and usually other resources) to persist. Supervenience is not useful. |
Hurricanes(!), biological organisms, biological groups, … Homeostatic mechanisms: specialized for individual cases. |
Social groups such as governments, corporations, clubs, the ship of Theseus(!), … Homeostatic mechanisms: specialized for individual cases, ranging from force to incentives. |
|
|
Subsidized. Energy is not relevant since it is provided “for free” within a “laboratory” which has built-in support for entities. Supervenience is not useful. |
Ideas, concepts, “memes,” … The elements of a conceptual system. (This paper is not about consciousness. This category just fits here.) Homeostatic mechanisms: don’t understand how memory works. |
The “first class” values—such as objects, classes, class instances, etc.—within a computational system. Homeostatic mechanisms: generally not required since no natural degradation. |
|
