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

ISOLATE 1)4)

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A group of elements sharing some peculiar characteristics and, or relationships within some secluded environment.

This general model applies to some archaic human populations (for ex. some former Amerindian groups) or animal or vegetal relics.

Isolates are always in a dangerous position, being very vulnerable to any environmental change, as for ex. the introduction of some new species.

There are also cultural isolates, i.e. very small collectivities that maintain the last vestiges of a culture, or religion (for ex. the Parsis in India), or a language (for ex. the Guanches in the Canaries Islands before their overwhelming by Spanish colonists).

In most cases, the members of the isolate are well adapted to their existing surroundings, but at the price of losing their adaptability. This generally leads them to their doom.

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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