The comparison between an artificial system (an economy) and a natural system (the growth of individuals) is as valid as that between the neurons in our brains

The comparison between an artificial system (an economy) and a natural system (the growth of individuals) is as valid as that between the neurons in our brains and the "neurons" in the neural network, that is, it is wrong. Senescence and then death do not result from failure to grow, and this is empirically found in any organism. Most fish continue to grow after sexual maturity (indeterminate growth), but still die from natural causes, from the accumulation of damage in their biological systems. In the course of the organism's life, energy is allocated to different functions; after sexual maturity, in most species energy is spent in directions other than growth, because it is reproduction that determines species' persistence. It may be interesting to note that in aquaculture, salmon are selected for late sexual maturity so that they can spend more time growing and thus be more valuable to the aquaculturist, who can see their resources going to tissues that can be sold (e.g., meat) and not to tissues (e.g., gonads) that cannot be sold.