selforiginating

Selforiginating is an adjective used to describe phenomena, agents, or processes that originate from within a system rather than being produced or imposed by external forces. The term emphasizes an internal source of origin and is often associated with circular causation, feedback loops, or bootstrapping where change derives from the system itself.

In philosophy and metaphysics, self-originating describes causal structures in which the source of an effect is internal to the system being affected. This notion is discussed with caution to avoid ontological regress or contradicting the premise of external influence.

In biology and systems theory, self-originating processes are characteristic of autopoietic or self-organizing systems. Such systems generate and maintain their own organization from internal rules, components, and energy flow. Examples include the cellular metabolism that sustains a living cell and developmental programs that guide growth based on internal genetic information.

In computing and artificial systems, self-originating can apply to processes that emerge from internal rules rather than direct external programming, such as bootstrapping, self-modifying code, or self-organizing networks. The term is less common in technical literature and often overlaps with established concepts like self-organization or autopoiesis.

Etymology: from self- + originating, built on origin.

See also autopoiesis, bootstrapping, circular causality, self-organization.