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

ENTROPIC DRIFT 1)2)

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A natural tendency in complexes of associated systems to the compensation of unbalances. (after St. BEER, 1968, p.355).

For example, in an ecosystem, the unordinate growth of one species becomes quicky checked by some destructive countervailing factor. St. BEER gives the example of the potential fantastic propagation of aphids which, if unchecked, would produce 822.000.000 tons of aphids in one summer (New York Academy of Sciences). However, this "…does not happen… the variety generation that is the procreation power of the aphids is absorbed within the ecosystem by homeostasis". Even so, and notwithstanding the non-existence of any "controller", "…the process of massive retrenchment of an animal population (does not) misfire to the extent of annihilating the entire species" (Ibid).

In effect, entropic drift tends to maintain global homeostasis, i.e. is a factor of order.

Unfortunately, man seems to have the power to check this re-equilibration process, and at least until now, seems also to be unaware of the kind of potentially runaway situations this may trigger.

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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