 Deacon claims that we should pinpoint the moment when two morphodynamic systems reciprocally constrain each other as the point when ententional qualities like function, purpose and normativity emerge.Deacon explores the properties of teleodynamic systems by describing a chemically plausible model system called an autogen.Deacon emphasizes that the specific autogen he describes is not a proposed description of the first life form, but rather a description of the kinds of thermodynamic synergies that the first living creature likely possessed.