A "small," "self-organizing" dissipative structure. Examples:
"quanta"(fermions, bosons); "particles"(baryons, mesons); atoms (nucliei,
ions); molecules, "cells" ("self-replicating" autocatalytic sets): viriods,
viruses, procaryotes; "organisms" (multi-cellular eucaryotic entities)
plants, animals, fungi; "families" (genetically similar, multiple organisms
functionally structured to reproduce) ant colonies, human families; "societies"
(multiple "families" functionally communicating) tribes, corporations,
"organizations".