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

SOCIAL CYBERNETICS 2)4)

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Under these terms the Brazilian sociologist V.De GREGORY, University of Sao Paulo, proposed a cybernetic view of human social systems.

According to him, any society includes three typical groups in interaction:

- the "official group", a small minority that controls the social levels and generally manages society as a whole

- the "opposition group", also a small minority that promotes a deeply different view of what social organization should be

- the "silent majority" that gathers most of the people, observes a more or less passive attitude and obeyes the rules defined by the "official group", at least as long as the general situation remains acceptable for them

In case of serious or deep trouble, the "silent majority" may switch their adhesion from the "official group" to the "opposition group". Socio-political disorder thus activates a feedback that changes the equilibrium of the society.

In fact, this theory would possibly be based on the catastrophe model of R. THOM.

→ Backside balance; Criticality; Social pathologies; Stress; Trigger effect

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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