Newsgroups: comp.ai.alife
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!torn!nott!cunews!freenet.carleton.ca!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!aa139
From: aa139@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Mike Lynch)
Subject: Re: Seeking Advice for a Science Fair Project on Alife
Message-ID: <D4r64v.IoK@freenet.carleton.ca>
Sender: aa139@freenet3.carleton.ca (Mike Lynch)
Reply-To: aa139@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Mike Lynch)
Organization: The National Capital FreeNet
References: <3iu85e$otr@scratchy.reed.edu> <D43LJu.Jon@freenet.carleton.ca> <3i2t1s$33s@network.ucsd.edu>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 08:26:55 GMT
Lines: 37

In a previous posting, M. Stephen Block (mblock@reed.edu) writes:
> In article <3i2t1s$33s@network.ucsd.edu>,
> Dave Blaettler <dblaettl@waynesworld.ucsd.edu> wrote:
>>Mike Lynch (aa139@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) wrote:
> 
>>: 6.  Are organizations (e.g. schools, companies, governments) examples of
>>: alife.  If so, are individuals within these organizations cellular automatons?
>>
>>I guess we have to put 'artifical' in our description of cellular automata,
>>for I wouldn't consider people to be cellular automatons.  Any help from the
>>others here?
> 	Umm.. strictly speaking, organizations are not alife, because they are
> not constructed for the purpose of observing characteristics of life, nor are
> they intended as models of life.  The only remaining way for them to alife would
> be for them to be, as a matter of fact, both artificial and alive, and I don't
> think schools, for instance, are alive in any important way.  Understand, though
> that this is disputable and has been disputed.

First of all, let me thank all those individuals who responded to my
request for help in assisting my son complete his science fair project. 

I am fascinated with the concept of alife. I have followed the field
passively for quite a number of years.  I have been exploring various
attributes of the "organization".  It seems to me that an organization has
in some instances more rights than the individual in a court of law.  It
is a legal entity in as much as that of an individual.  It evolves.  It
adapts to its environment. 

Has anyone out there in cyperspace looked at organization, i.e.
social/economic/business organization, as a form of life? 

Cheers,

Michael Lynch

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