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

SUBJECTION 1)2)

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"A governing relation of asymmetrical dependence" (J. FEIBLEMAN & J. FRIEND, 1969, p.36).

This is basically the hierarchical mode of organization of systems, in which the survival of some elements depends on other elements or subsystems.

For example, partial destruction of the nervous system or the brain leads to the loss of certain functions in the living system. In a somewhat similar sense, in an authoritarian society, the welfare and even at times the survival of the citizens depends on the group which controls the state.

The concept of subjection seems quite similar to the one of slaving in HAKEN's synergetics.

Asymmetry is not necessarily absolute, since what happens in the system depends on the relative position of the intervening elements in the hierarchical order. For example, a living being which loses a leg may survive, but its potential for action decreases heavily.

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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