Information and the unfolding of social life: molecular-biological resonances reaching up to the economy

The much vexed analogy between cells, organisms, and societies receives a new treatment here. It is argued that, based on an enlarged view on the relationship between information and life, one can approach economy from an unusual angle: the accounting processes that take place in every productive unit and commercial organization. Such accounting processes have been historically developed in order to coordinate the economic ‘physiologyʹ of complex societies. In this sense, the convergence which can be found amongst the abstract, coordinating operations performed by cellular signaling systems, vertebrate nervous systems, and entrepreneurial accounting systems appears as a relevant theoretical item to analyze (the abstract organization of what can be called information ‘phase transitionsʹ). Its development lends support to the cogency of a ‘verticalʹ information science approach.