In the last eight chapters we have discussed the biological, cognitive, and social dimensions of the systems view of life, emphasizing the fundamental patterns of self-organization and emergence that involve all three dimensions and allow us to integrate them into a unifying vision. No less important is the ecological dimension of life, which we shall explore in Chapter 16.

This new unifying vision of life, which has emerged in science over the last three decades, has important implications for almost every field of study and every human endeavor. This should not come as a surprise, since most phenomena we deal with in our professional and personal lives have to do with living systems. Whether we talk about economics, the environment, education, healthcare, law, or management, we are dealing with living organisms, social systems, or ecosystems. And consequently, the fundamental shift of perception from the mechanistic to the systemic view of life is relevant to all these areas.