{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T12:25:49Z","timestamp":1774527949892,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,12]],"date-time":"2021-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628726400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000925","name":"John Templeton Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["61733"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61733"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Entropy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this article, we attempt at developing a scenario for the self-organization of goal-directed systems out of networks of (chemical) reactions. Related scenarios have been proposed to explain the origin of life starting from autocatalytic sets, but these sets tend to be too unstable and dependent on their environment to maintain. We apply instead a framework called Chemical Organization Theory (COT), which shows mathematically under which conditions reaction networks are able to form self-maintaining, autopoietic organizations. We introduce the concepts of perturbation, action, and goal based on an operationalization of the notion of change developed within COT. Next, we incorporate the latter with notions native to the theory of cybernetics aimed to explain goal directedness: reference levels and negative feedback among others. To test and refine these theoretical results, we present some examples that illustrate our approach. We finally discuss how this could result in a realistic, step-by-step scenario for the evolution of goal directedness, thus providing a theoretical solution to the age-old question of the origins of purpose.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/e23081039","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,12]],"date-time":"2021-08-12T22:14:36Z","timestamp":1628806476000},"page":"1039","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Goal Directedness, Chemical Organizations, and Cybernetic Mechanisms"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Evo","family":"Busseniers","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, B-1160 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3014-8340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tomas","family":"Veloz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, B-1160 Brussels, Belgium"},{"name":"Fundacion para el Desarrollo Interdisciplinario de la Ciencia, la Tecnologia y las Artes-DICTA, Santiago 8330307, Chile"},{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias para la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 8370146, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francis","family":"Heylighen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, B-1160 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1075\/aicr.71.04dea","article-title":"The physical origins of purposive systems","volume":"71","author":"Deacon","year":"2007","journal-title":"Adv. Conscious. Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1086\/286788","article-title":"Behavior, purpose and teleology","volume":"10","author":"Rosenblueth","year":"1943","journal-title":"Philos. Sci."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Heylighen, F., and Joslyn, C. (2003). Cybernetics and Second-Order Cybernetics. Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Elsevier.","DOI":"10.1016\/B0-12-227410-5\/00161-7"},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Ashby, W. (2013). Design for a Brain: The Origin of Adaptive Behaviour, Springer Science & Business Media."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Luhmann, N. (1982). The Differentiation of Society, Columbia University Press.","DOI":"10.7312\/luhm90862"},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Heylighen, F., Rosseel, E., and Demeyere, F. (1990). Self-Steering and Cognition in Complex Systems: Toward a NEW Cybernetics, CRC Press."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1007\/s11084-012-9297-y","article-title":"Autopoiesis 40 years later. A review and a reformulation","volume":"42","year":"2012","journal-title":"Orig. Life Evol. Biosph."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Maturana, H.R., and Varela, F.J. (1991). Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living, Springer Science & Business Media."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1733","DOI":"10.3390\/e12071733","article-title":"Autocatalytic sets and the origin of life","volume":"12","author":"Hordijk","year":"2010","journal-title":"Entropy"},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Kauffman, S. (1996). At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity, Oxford University Press."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1199","DOI":"10.1007\/s11538-006-9130-8","article-title":"Chemical organisation theory","volume":"69","author":"Dittrich","year":"2007","journal-title":"Bull. Math. Biol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Veloz, T., and Razeto-Barry, P. (2017). Reaction networks as a language for systemic modeling: Fundamentals and examples. Systems, 5.","DOI":"10.3390\/systems5010011"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"015011","DOI":"10.1088\/1367-2630\/aa9fcd","article-title":"Autocatalytic sets and chemical organizations: Modeling self-sustaining reaction networks at the origin of life","volume":"20","author":"Hordijk","year":"2018","journal-title":"New J. Phys."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104314","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biosystems.2020.104314","article-title":"Beyond planetary-scale feedback self-regulation: Gaia as an autopoietic system","volume":"199","author":"Rubin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biosystems"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"i475","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btu453","article-title":"Effects of small particle numbers on long-term behaviour in discrete biochemical systems","volume":"30","author":"Kreyssig","year":"2014","journal-title":"Bioinformatics"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.1108\/03684920210417283","article-title":"What is cybernetics?","volume":"31","author":"Beer","year":"2002","journal-title":"Kybernetes"},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Trestman, M. (2010). Goal-Directedness, Behavior and Evolution: A Philosophical Investigation, University of California."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.adms.2015.04.001","article-title":"The architecture of goal systems: Multifinality, equifinality, and counterfinality in means\u2014end relations","volume":"Volume 2","author":"Kruglanski","year":"2015","journal-title":"Advances in Motivation Science"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Biehl, M., and Polani, D. (2015). Apparent actions and apparent goal-directedness. Artificial Life Conference Proceedings 13, MIT Press.","DOI":"10.7551\/978-0-262-33027-5-ch089"},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Heylighen, F. (2008). Complexity and Self-Organization. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, CRC Press. [4th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.plrev.2017.09.001","article-title":"Answering Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s question: A free-energy formulation","volume":"24","author":"Ramstead","year":"2018","journal-title":"Phys. Life Rev."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"253","article-title":"The science of self-organization and adaptivity","volume":"5","author":"Heylighen","year":"2001","journal-title":"Encycl. Life Support Syst."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1389","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1183372","article-title":"Structural sources of robustness in biochemical reaction networks","volume":"327","author":"Shinar","year":"2010","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1034","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1153213","article-title":"The microbial engines that drive Earth\u2019s biogeochemical cycles","volume":"320","author":"Falkowski","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ashby, W.R. (1991). Principles of the Self-Organizing System. Facets of Systems Science, Springer US.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4899-0718-9_38"},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Dittrich, P., and Winter, L. (2005, January 9\u201313). Reaction networks as a formal mechanism to explain social phenomena. Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Agent-Based Approaches in Economics and Social Complex Systems (AESCS 2005), Tokyo, Japan."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Strogatz, S.H. (2014). Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering, Westview Press."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1142\/S0219525911002895","article-title":"On the relation between organizations and limit sets in chemical reaction systems","volume":"14","author":"Peter","year":"2011","journal-title":"Adv. Complex Syst."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Peter, S., Veloz, T., and Dittrich, P. (2010, January 24\u201327). Feasibility of Organizations-A Refinement of Chemical Organization Theory with Application to P Systems. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Membrane Computing (CMC11), Jena, Germany.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-18123-8_25"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1611","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btn228","article-title":"Computing chemical organizations in biological networks","volume":"24","author":"Centler","year":"2008","journal-title":"Bioinformatics"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1788","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btq263","article-title":"A parallel algorithm to compute chemical organizations in biological networks","volume":"26","author":"Centler","year":"2010","journal-title":"Bioinformatics"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Veloz, T., and Razeto-Barry, P. (2017). Reaction networks as a language for systemic modeling: On the study of structural changes. Systems, 26.","DOI":"10.3390\/systems5020030"},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Speroni di Fenizio, P. (2015). The lattice of chemical organisations. Artificial Life Conference Proceedings 13, MIT Press."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Veloz, T., Bassi, A., Maldonado, P., and Razeto, P. (2018). On the existence of synergies and the separability of closed reaction networks. International Symposium on Molecular Logic and Computational Synthetic Biology, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-19432-1_7"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"775","DOI":"10.1016\/0009-2509(74)80195-8","article-title":"Dynamics of open chemical systems and the algebraic structure of the underlying reaction network","volume":"29","author":"Feinberg","year":"1974","journal-title":"Chem. Eng. Sci."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4982","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jpca.7b01852","article-title":"Using Structural Kinetic Modeling To Identify Key Determinants of Stability in Reaction Networks","volume":"121","author":"Carbonaro","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. A"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.1614","article-title":"What is flux balance analysis?","volume":"28","author":"Orth","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nat. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1051\/mmnp\/201510504","article-title":"A survey of methods for deciding whether a reaction network is multistationary","volume":"10","author":"Joshi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Math. Model. Nat. Phenom."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Deng, J., Jones, C., Feinberg, M., and Nachman, A. (2011). On the steady states of weakly reversible chemical reaction networks. arXiv."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Feinberg, M. (1979). Lectures on chemical reaction networks. Notes of Lectures Given at the Mathematics Research Center, University of Wisconsin."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Angeli, D. (2008, January 9\u201311). On modularity and persistence of chemical reaction networks. Proceedings of the 2008 47th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Cancun, Mexico.","DOI":"10.1109\/CDC.2008.4738584"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtbi.2014.04.007","article-title":"Layered decomposition for the model order reduction of timescale separated biochemical reaction networks","volume":"356","author":"Prescott","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Theor. Biol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1551","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1073374","article-title":"Hierarchical organization of modularity in metabolic networks","volume":"297","author":"Ravasz","year":"2002","journal-title":"Science"}],"container-title":["Entropy"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1099-4300\/23\/8\/1039\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T06:45:06Z","timestamp":1760165106000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1099-4300\/23\/8\/1039"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,12]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8]]}},"alternative-id":["e23081039"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/e23081039","relation":{},"ISSN":["1099-4300"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1099-4300","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,12]]}}}