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

INHIBITION 1)

← Back

A constraint strong enough to block a process.

The inhibitor blocks the process by substituting itself to some element crucial to the process.

In many cases the inhibition process is coupled with an excitation process. Their alternance allows the system to maintain itself in a restricted range of stability conditions. Excessive or too frequent excitation in some critical process may destroy the system, if not compensated in due time.

In many chemical and enzymatic reactions the inhibitor is more strongly reactive that the normal substrate which feeds the reaction. In some cases inhibition is irreversible, i.e. when the newly created bond is so strong that it cannot anymore be broken, or when the substrate is overwhelmed. In other cases however, inhibition remains reversible.

The concept seems useful at least if used carefully, as a heuristic metaphor in psychology, economics and possibly in ecology and social sciences.

A recent example could be the disappearance of cod's reproductive capacity under the pressure of overfishing on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and its possible irreversible re placement by other species in its former niche. This type of phenomena in ecosystems is well documented.

→ Catalysis; Constraint; Far-from-equilibrium condition; Instability; Oscillators; Periodicity; Stability (Poly-)

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