Biophysics - Life and Living Systems

I have been thinking and think and I know what does not make me a "living system". It is not my dreams or my hopes. It is not my desire to live. It is not my ability to have joy and laugh. It is not my ability to cry and be angry. It is not the ability to reproduce (for many people can not). It is not my ability to learn. So maybe by looking at the NOTs of a living system, I can further understand what it means to be a living system.

When comparing biomedicine to TCM tn terms of autopoietic organization, I think classification of certain pathogenic factors and illnesses is what varies the most. Biomedicine has sweeping generalizations of diagnosis which allows them to superscribe a "one size fits all". While TCM can classify illness differences, allowing more variation. TCM differentiates signs and symptoms in great detail while biomedicine feels sometimes more of a summary. Although different, they can be used in tandem.  Especially in emergency instances, biomedicine can stabilize a patient. Or with the more high technology can look into a person to confirm a theory. While TCM can be used for anything - I would love to see society utilized TCM as long-term health care. To be used as a constant maintenance in order to strengthen the body and prevent further harm.