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

DISASTERS: A systemic view 1)

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Most disasters, in particular those concocted by men, have complex causes, are complex when they succeed and have complex consequences. They are thus a typical object for systemic research.

Complexity of causes is of two different orders:

- Numerous concurrent causes are generally necessary to bring about the disaster. The understanding of their progressive interactions is of paramount importance for prediction, reaction and mending. One specific cause must be considered with special care: the trigger cause, which also has its own causes (no trigger, no disaster…).

- Causes are connected with processes that turn critical at some time. However, not all of these processes are at the same time scale. It is of paramount importance to distinguish between the slow accumulating causes, at times on a secular or multisecular process scale and, at times on a much shorter term.

Complexity in itself is the result of multiple interactions among processes, some very basic, some other circumstancial… and many of them hidden or at least not readily visible. Only a good knowledge of these interactions can draw the attention to potential risks at specific moments.

In many cases, side-effects of human action are also ignored, as research on physical causes generally shadows psychological, social, political, economic and even cultural ones. This ignorance is in itself a cause of disasters.

In synthesis, research on disasters, past or in the making, must be systemic.

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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]

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