# Autopoiesis
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** [[Cellular_automaton|cellular automaton]]
- **Microsimmability score:** 60/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Production rate`
- `Boundary repair`
- `Decay rate`
### What animates
A self-producing boundary continually rebuilds the components that maintain it.
### Learning objective
Show how an autopoietic system maintains itself by producing its own components.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Autopoiesis.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Abiogenesis` · `Adaptive_system` · `Allopoiesis` · [[Architecture]] · `Autocatalysis` · `Autocatalytic_set` · `Autonomous_agency_theory` · `Autopoiesis_and_Cognition:_The_Realization_of_the_Living` · `Biosemiotics` · `Bob_Jessop` · `Carlos_Gershenson` · `Cell_membrane` · `Cell_nucleus` · [[Chemistry]] · `Chemoton` · `Cognition` · `Consciousness` · `Cytoskeleton` · [[Dissipative_system]] · `Donna_Haraway` · [[Dynamical_system]] · `Embodied_cognitive_science` · `Enactivism` · `Epistemology` · `Eukaryote` · `Explanatory_gap` · `Fernando_Flores` · [[Francisco_Varela]] · `Free_energy_principle` · `Freeman_Dyson` · `Fritjof_Capra` · `Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel` · `Greek_language` · `Hard_problem_of_consciousness` · [[Humberto_Maturana]] · `Hypercycle_(chemistry)` · `Information_metabolism` · `Jerome_McGann` · `Knowledge` · [[Living_systems]] · `Loschmidt's_paradox` · `Manfred_Eigen` · `Metabolism` · `Mitosis` · `Neurophenomenology` · [[Neuroscience]] · [[Niklas_Luhmann]] · `Non-equilibrium_thermodynamics` · `Nucleic_acid` · `Organelle` · `Organizational_theory` · `Patrik_Schumacher` · `Peter_Schuster_(theoretical_chemist)` · `Pier_Luigi_Luisi` · `Poiesis` · `Poietic_Generator` · `Polytely` · `Protein` · `Qualia` · `Quine_(computing)` · [[Self-organization]] · `Self-replicating_machine` · [[Self-replication]] · `Sensory-motor_coupling` · `Slavoj_Žižek` · `Sociology` · `Stuart_Kauffman` · [[System]] · [[Systems_theory]] · `Terry_Winograd` · `Tibor_Gánti` · [[Viable_system_theory]] · `What_Is_Life?`
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Science · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis)
> Relation: subfield of systems science.
## Concept summary
The term autopoiesis (from Greek αὐτo- (auto) 'self' and ποίησις (poiesis) 'creation, production'), one of several current theories of life, refers to a [[System|system]] capable of producing and maintaining itself by creating its own parts. The term was introduced in the 1972 publication Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living by Chilean biologists [[Humberto_Maturana|Humberto Maturana]] and [[Francisco_Varela|Francisco Varela]] to define the self-maintaining [[Chemistry|chemistry]] of living cells.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems science)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Autopoiesis
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render cellular automaton; respond live.
}
```
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Back to Systems Science · Wikipedia: [Autopoiesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis)
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<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (5):** 🟡 system (16) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 emergence (4) · 🟢 exponential (3) · 🟢 flow (2)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Autopoiesis)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
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*Sources: 2 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*