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

THRESHOLD 1)

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The point on a curve of behavior where a systems function crosses the limit of its dynamic stability regime.

Below this limit the system's behavior is not fundamentally affected by excessive stimulations. Most generally, the various functions within a system are oscillating around a standard value. In such a case "… all states are equilibrial when some parameter function is less than a certain value, and few or none are equilibrial when it exceeds that value" (W.R. ASHBY, 1960, p.168).

The crossing of a stability threshold may either destroy the system, or transform it beyond recognition, within a process of emergence, and towards a different and frequently more complex level of organization.

A slightly different understanding of the threshold is "the minimum-required stimulation" to trigger a change in the organization of a network (J.von NEUMANN, 1958, p. 55).

In unstable composite systems or networks, a threshold defines the minimum constraint that must be applied in order to break the networks structure and start a global flow or an avalanche in the network, which may also lead to a reordering of its structure. Close to such a constraint threshold, a very small disturbance can start a considerable change.

In any case, the crossing of a threshold implies a discontinuity and a qualitative change. A threshold is a "point of no return" to the original conditions.

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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