Chapter 1

Adaptive system

A system that can change internal distributions of material to account for change in the environment

Evolvable systems

A system that can learn new functions and eliminate unnecessary ones

Shallow understanding

Involves building abstract models that can be used to predict future behavior of a system without understanding the causal relations between the system’s variables.

Deep understanding

Requires causal models based on relations between macrostates of a dynamic system

Systemese

A universal language that can be used to describe any concrete phenomenon regardless of the substrate's domain

Chapter 2

System (informal/qualitative)

An identifiable object/entity, composed of an internally organized set of heterogenous components, each of which can be a subsystem