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

MODELS (Use of Generic and Concrete) 2)

J. ARACIL explains as follows the use of generic and concrete models for the study of nonlinear dynamical systems:

"Once a generic model M has been adopted, we have to choose the model µ M that "best" fits the concrete system. The fitting criterion between ´ and µ is established from observations of the time behavior of ´. The model µ(p)M whose trajectories best fit the ones observed on ´ will be adopted. This fitting criterion can be quantitative, formalized through a mathematical expresion of the discrepancies between the data observed on ´ and the ones generated by µ. It is very common to use the quadratic value of this discrepancy. This criterion has a strongly local character as far as it refers to a trajectory (the measured one) which is adopted as representative of the behavior mode. However, it is well known that a nonlinear dynamical system can have many attractors and therefore, can show different behaviors associated to them. In that case, if one adopts a single trajectory as representative of the behavior of the system, then one is self-restricted to one attractor, forgetting the other ones, and the analysis of the system is unfailingly defective" (1986, p.245).

This is a characteristical problem presented by FORRESTER's systems dynamics: what happens when some systemic process escapes from its supposedly normal range of trajectories? and what should be done in such case?

ARACIL's qualitative analysis of models tries to solve this problem.

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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