ulding, 1985, p. 21). The growth of a chicken from an egg is an example of the functioning of a natural creodic system, while economic growth within a society is an example of the functioning of a social creodic system.
Just above the creodic system in the systems hierarchy in the context of system complexity is the reproductive system (Boulding, 1985, p. 21). A reproductive system, as the name implies, has the capacity to reproduce itself, whether the reproduction be biological or social in character (Boulding, 1985, pp. 21 22). The demographic system occupies the hierarchical level above the reproductive system when systems are considered in the context of their complexity (Boulding, 1985, p. 23). Reproductive systems produce populations, and a demographic system is a population of "a set of similar organisms that may not be identical but are similar enough to create a useful classification" (Boulding, 1985, p. 23). Above the demographic system in the system hierarchy considered in
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