Life and Living Systems

I know I'm a "living system" because... I am continuously evolving in molecular and chemical composition. It is apparent that I am a living system when I observe my nutrition and activity patterns. My body reflects and changes depending on the quality of the food that I eat and the types of athletic activities that I engage in. The interaction of my body with the world around it is evidence of my life within the system that I am living in. This makes me think about how as humans we have to be conscious of the environment that we live in because our sustainability is truly dependent on it. It is becoming more and more of a challenge to source food that is nutrient-dense and does not have harmful antibiotics, pesticides, GMO, mercury, etc. The diminished quality of the food we produce and gather will inevitably have an effect on the quality of our lives.

I think it is an interesting cultural phenomenon that as a society we are consuming more time with technology and entertainment and spending less time interacting face-to-face with each other. And with this cultural shift, efforts are being put forward to make technology and entertainment more personalized and interactive with the user. One of the articles discussed how Disney is funding startup technology companies that promote products using innovations of artificial intelligence. Technology companies are striving to make technology more human with personalized content, emotional engagement, and direct interaction. This makes me think about the impact technology has to social evolution, whether an increase in technological skills will come at the sacrifice of interpersonal skills.