BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

COMPLEXITY as perceived 1)3)

← Back

As observed by R. ESPEJO: "Individuals only see 'sides of a situation', never the whole of it; indeed, there is no viewpoint that can capture in full the variety of a situation. Different viewpoints 'see' different chunks of variety, and no viewpoint can see the full variety, not least because human activities are constantly being created and recreated by the people participating in them" (1988, p.139). And: "Outcomes are related to patterns in time (i.e. behaviours), and the complexity of the situation is defined by the number of non-equivalent outcomes recognized by the viewpoint in the situation" (p.140).

In ESPEJO's words, viewpoints act as "cognitive constraints".

Perceived complexity is thus merely an aspect of total complexity, which could be equated with the variety in the system or situation. Moreover, it is always a transitional reflection of the same, because all situations and systems are permanently changing. In ESPEJO's words: "… perceiving complexity has a time dimension, and… the history of viewpoints is essential to work out the outcomes of a situation, that is, to work out its complexity" (p.144).

This implies that:

- a broader range of viewpoints gives a deeper understanding of the system or situation, as observed in different ways by J. WARFIELD (Nominal Group Technique), B BANATHY and the FUSCHL Group (Co participative design) or J. JOHANNESSEN (Heterarchy).

- a satisfying consensus between viewpoints gives a more accurate global view of complex systems or situations.

- frequent reviews of the different viewpoints allow for a progressive deepening of understanding of complexity.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

We thank the following partners for making the open access of this volume possible:

© 2020 BCSSS Contact/Imprint