Misunderstandings About the Nature of Life and its Consequences on Societies

Reviewing the development of complex systems concepts such as autopoiesis and operational closure, we show how complex systems modeling as networks of processes via computer simulation can help us to deepen our understanding of natural phenomena and to ground major philosophical questions such as downward causation, the epistemological statute of levels or the question of emerging stuctures. We build on this to question the mainstream western view of socio-economic systems grounded in Smith’s laissez-faire and praise a renewal of the collective representations of what social systems are based on autopoietic theory.