ABSTRACT
The epistemological predicament associated with the study of the evolution of living (complex adaptive) systems is generated by two peculiar characteristics: (1) they are operating simultaneously on different hierarchical levels of organization, and (2) they are becoming in time, at different paces, across these different levels (for an overview of these concepts, see Giampietro 2003; Giampietro et al. 2006 a, b).
