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

NAVON 2)5)

← Back

A picture made of much smaller distinguishable elements. (see figure)

The elements may – or not – be similar to the global picture. Recently, navons have been used to test the interactions between perceptive and high attentional levels in the brain (J. McCRONE, 1999, p.27)

A navon can be self-similar at its two different levels.

A beautiful example is the engraving "Public opinion" by the Swiss painter and engraver Arnold BÖCKLIN wherein public opinion is represented as a gigantic dragon made up of a myriad of much smaller dragons of a similar shape.

Navons present an intriguing perceptive ambiguity and has been used to study the effect of alternate perception in the brain. However this is a two-way phenomenon, i.e. "not a passive process. High-level attentional areas can tell low-level sensory areas what they should be concentrated on.

This feedback system can suppress the activity of some cells and increase the sensitivity of others. In effect, the brain can highlight what it wants to see"

And "There could still be a wiring bias, formed as the brain develops"(J. McCrone, 1999, p. 27-30)

As a source of metaphors, navons are suggestive of the subtle reciprocal relations between levels within complex systems.

→ Brain circuits; Brain and Environment; Brain organization; Figure-ground; Intentionality; Neuron (Formal); Perception

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