INTERFACE 2)
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A region of contact between the boundaries of two systems.
The concept is less rigid that the one of frontier or boundary, of more common use. The word evoques exchange, more than a more or less hermetic closeness.
J.L. TABARY, for example, bases his evaluation of interfaces on the study of biological membranes, which are "permeability barriers" in a selective way: filters, osmose.
This is indeed the case of any boundary.
Later on, TABARY developed as follows the concept of interface:
"…the interface structure, which concretely ensures the subject/object relation, is the stable and permanent element all along the evolution of the subject and the construction of a phenomenal reality. The constitutive properties of the interface overrule all the relations of the subject with its environment.
"There is a primeval subject, endowed with a minimun of autonomy, pre-existant to any encounter with the environment. However this subject does not practically know anything from itself and from its environment and must construct nearly from scratch its knowledge from itself and from reality.
"…
"An autonomous system cannot be closed, nor freely open: its relations whith its environment require interfaces… It may not be freely open, otherwise it would be quickly destroyed.
"… The only solution is the controlled opening. There are of course permanent exchange flows between the inside of the system and its environment, but autonomy can be protected only if a strict control of these exchanges is maintained."(1991, p.171).
TABARY distinguishes two complementary types of interfaces:
"a) the receptive interface includes a receptor site at the external face of the structure which guarantees closure (cellular membrane for example) and an effector site on the internal face. The presence of a specific agent on the receptor site triggers a switch from a state 0 to a state 1. This topple over is transmitted to the effector switch, which in turn switches and modifies some underlying cyclical reaction. Two essential features must been taken in account:
"The interface response is identical, whatever be the external stimulating agent. From the inside of the system no input can be qualified and only the monotonous switch of the effector site is known ("it is able to say how much, it cannot say "what" – von FOERSTER).
"The interface particularities remain absolutely stable during the whole life and the cognitive development" (TABARY, ibid).
The basic role of the receptive interface is thus to operate the selection and the transduction of the inputs for the use of the system. The role of the effector interface is opposite, as explained by J.C. TABARY:
"b) The effector interface includes a receptor site at the internal face of the structure, which guarantees closure and an effector site on the external face. The arrival of a specific agent (for example, a synaptic mediator) on the receptor site triggers a switch of the receptor site from a state 0 to a state 1. This topple over is transmitted to the effector site, which in turn switches and this modifies the global configuration of the system, causing an output toward the environment" (p.173).
It should be interesting to try a generalization of these concepts in the cases of complex social systems (firms, organizations) and cultural ones.
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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