Because of huge complexity of organisms, we are not able to trace the full path from local rules to behavior on higher level. Here is a space for Alife, applying various life properties to the simple entities and examining the emergence of global behavior. The goal of such studies is to enrich our knowledge and understand the nature, the improvement and optimization of our artificial models. The medium for Alife modeling is usually a computer. There is no global control of behavior.
Emergency requires non-linear behavior of individuals.
Includes self-replication of structures, mutation of possessed information and selection of the fittest entities. They model life properties observed from various perspectives, be it chemistry, biology or sociology. The planetary ecosystems perspective i.e. Gaia belongs here as well. Therefore the model of Gaia simulation presented here ranks among Alife models.