>5. Diversity:  The diversity of agents in cas is neither accidental nor random.  The persistence of any individual agent whether organism, neuron, or firm, depends on the context provided by the other agents.
>Each kind of agent fills a niche that is defined by the interactions centering on that agent.  If we remove one kind of agent from the system, creating a "Hole”, the system typically responds with a cascade of adaptations resulting in a new agent which fills the “hole”.
>The new agent typically occupies the same niche as the deleted agent and provides the missing interactions.  This process is akin to the phenomenon called convergence in biology. Two quite different agents, or organs, may fill the same niche, although they are not related in form.
>Convergence also describes the process of evolution of a single agent in a virgin territory.  In Hawaii, a lone fruit fly which happened to land on the island reproduced and created a whole new ecosystem of flies, filling almost all of the standard niches, even though they were all quite different.
>Diversity also arises when the spread of an agent opens up a new niche, with opportunities for interaction, which can be exploited by other agents.
>The diversity of cas is a dynamic pattern, often persistent like the standing wave around a rock.  If you disturb the wave, it quickly repairs itself when the disturbance is removed, even though the new agents differ from the old.  
>Cas systems evolve (unlike the rock in the stream) The diversity seen in cas is the result of successive adaptations.  Each new adaptation opens up new niches for exploitation.
>The patterns of interaction found in a wide variety of cas - symbiosis, parasitism, mimicry, biological arms races – are all well described in terms of agent-directed flows of resources.
>Cas that participate in cyclic flows of resources cause new niches to be filled by new kinds of agents.  The parts of cas that exploit these possibilities, particularly the parts the further enhance recycling, will thrive, others will fade.  This is natural selection writ large.  It is a process that leads to increasing diversify through increasing recycling.
>The recycling of resources by the aggregate behavior of a diverse array of agents is much more that the sum of the individual action, due to the non-linearity of the process. 
>The recycling of resources by the aggregate behavior of a diverse array of agents is much more than the sum of individual actions.  For this reason it is difficult to evolve a single agent with the aggregate’s capabilities.
>Such complex capabilities are more easily approached step by step, using a distributed system.
>Cas do not settle to a few highly adapted types that explore opportunities.   Perpetual novelty is the hallmark of cas.