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

COUNTER-INTUITIVE BEHAVIOR 1)3)

← Back

R. ROSEN states: "… in general the behavior of complex systems is "counter-intuitive":… large systems generally act in quite a different manner than is expected from "common sense" considerations" (1974, p.94).

The same point has been made by J. FORRESTER in relation to his Systems Dynamics.

The main reason is given as follows by ROSEN: "Basically, it is because such intuitions we have about systems are drawn from systems which are in some sense "simple" (Ibid).

Complexity, as a result of numerous intertwined interrelations, is quite difficult to grasp entirely and unsound simplifications are normal, even in trained persons. Deterministic chaos theory has recently revealed a new and surprising dimension of unsuspected behavior of complex systems.

Ignorance of counter-intuitive behavior leads easily to inappropriate policies. Some initiative taken in order to alleviate a critical process in a system, while seemingly logical in an intuitive way, may actually turn the situation still more critical in the future. R. ARNOTT and K. SMALL give the following example: "Expanding road capacity creates its own demand, a phenomenon known as the Pigou-Knight-Downs Paradox… Expanding capacity only attracts more users" (1994, p.448).

This merely fuels a positive feedback, at least until basic resources are totally used up or sky-rocketing costs block the positive feedback.

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