Components of the 19 critical
subsytems of an organism
[science as per 1979]
Subsystems which process both matter-energy and information
Reproducer: in fungi, spore-bearing organs; in plants, stamens, pistils, seeds, and their accessory structures, such as fruits and seed pods; in animals, eggs, sperm; the sex glands in which they develop, genitalia, and accessory structures; artifacts such as incubator
Boundary: integument, like epidermis or bark of plants, membranes, skin, external skeleton, fur, hair, feathers, scales, or corneas of animals; artifacts such as hat, cap, coat, diver's suit, etc.
Subsystems which process
matter-energy
Ingestor: in
fungi, filaments; in plants, root tips, stomata, epithelial cells,
and some accessory structures like tentacles and traps; in animals,
openings into digestive spaces, such as central cavity of
coelenterates or canal entrances of sponges, mouth, nostrils, gills,
skin, and accessory structures such as cilia, tentacles, and jaws;
artifacts such as stomach tube, syringe
Distributor:
in plants, the vascular system, including tracheids and the veins
of leaves; in animals, the central cavities of coelenterates, canals
of sponges, and blood and lymph vascular systems of higher
species
Converter: in plants, none known at this level; in
animals, the mouth, teeth, tongue, associated musculature, salivary
glands, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas and small intestine [
metabolism]
Producer: none known at this
level
Matter-energy storage: in plants, leaves, stems,
roots, seeds, tubers, fruit; in animals, fatty tissues, liver,
gallbladder, bone marrow, muscles, bones, spleen, urinary bladder,
lower bowel
Extruder: in plants, membranes and stomata of
leaves; in animals, openings of the central cavity of coelenterates,
opening of the canals of sponges, kidneys, ureters, urethra, rectum,
anus, lungs, breathing passages, sweat glands, birth canal, breasts,
mouth, poison glands, musk glands; artifacts such as enema or douche
equipment
Motor: in fungi, endoplasm of slime molds; in
plants, liquid-filled bulbs in sensitive plants; in animals, muscles,
fascia, bones and joints of specialized components such as legs,
wings; artifacts such as cane, wheelchair, automobile, sleigh,
rowboat, broom, hammer, sewing machine, machine tool, etc.
Supporter:
in plants, cell walls, sclerenchyma; in animals, skeleton,
tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, muscles, fascia; artifacts such
as chair, bed, etc.
Subsystems which process information [compare with the above subsystems!]
Input
transducer [sensor]: the
totality of the components of all the sensory modalities including,
in the human being, the eyes, the vestibular and auditory parts of
the ears, chemoreceptors in the nose and tongue, nerve endings and
(specialized) receptors in the skin; specialized receptors in other
species such as in pigeons for magnetic fields and in torpedo fish
for electrical fields; artifacts such as radio receiver, tv,
telephone receiver, etc.
Internal transducer: postsynaptic
regions of neurons with which afferent neurons from organs synapse;
receptor cells within the central nervous system that receive and
transduce signals about chemical and physical states of the
bloodstream
Channel and Net: in plants, the vascular
system, including tracheids and the veins of leaves, which convey
hormones;in animals, the central cavities of coelenterates, canals of
sponges, and blood and lymph vascular systems of higher species which
convey hormones; the network of neurons which interconnects all
centers of the central nervous system, as well as the peripheral
neural network
Decoder: certain cells in sense organs, like
retinal bipolar and ganglion cells and cochlear bipolar cells;
ganglia, nuclei, and other centers where afferent neurons synapse;
cortical sensory projection and association areas for each sensory
modality; for gamma-coded linguistic information processing,
temporoparietal area of dominant hemisphere of human brain; artifacts
such as coding machine, pattern recognition device
Associator:
in fungi and plants, probably none exists at this level; in
animals, specific components not known
Memory: In plants,
probably none exists at this level [ this is debatable: see my text
on the cell/plant and its defence against intruders] ; in
animals, specific components not known
Decider: in plants,
hormone producing tissues; in animals, certain neurons; pituitary and
other endocrine glands; ventral horn nuclei of spinal cords, motor
nuclei of all parts of the brain, cortical motor areas; nuclei of
preganglionic autonomic pathways and parts of cerebral cortex which
send neurons into them; all or many nuclei of “nonspecific”
and limbic areas and their cortical representation areas; nuclei and
cortical areas of cerebellum; artifacts such as calculator and
computer
Encoder: none
known in fungi and plants; in animals, exocrine glands which output
alpha-coded pheromones; for beta-coded information processing,
specific components not known; for gamma-coded symbolic information
processing, temporoparietal are of dominant hemisphere of human
brain
Output transducer: exocrine glands which produce and
parts of extruder which excrete alpha-coded pheromones; for beta- and
gamma-coded information processing, components of motor including
lips, tongue, soft palate, larynx, lungs, hands, feet. Muscles of
chest and abdomen, tail muscles of dog, small muscles which raise the
hair of a cat, wattles of a turkey, organs that color Siamese
fighting fish; areas 44 and 45 and nearby regions of inferior frontal
cortex of dominant hemisphere of human brain; artifacts such as
pencil, pen, typewriter, microphone, radio or television transmitter,
printer