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

SYNCHRONICITY 1)

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The coincidence in time of events or patterns.

The concept is somewhat ambiguous.

It could have an absolute theoretic meaning: two (or more) events are truly synchronic when they occur at the same instant. However, they could very well not appear as synchronic to different observers, while observers are who decide on synchronicity, as they observe events: Referentials are relative.

Furthermore, observed synchronicity is easily spurious. The simultaneous observation of many stars by an astronomer does not make their existence synchronous, nor even possibly contemporary of each others.

F. DAVID PEAT uses the concept in a somewhat dubious manner, quoting for example C.J. JUNG, who abundantly used it, speaking of "meaningful coincidence" (1988, p.1). What does however mean "meaningful" and for whom?

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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