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

DECOMPOSABLE (Nearly) SYSTEMS 2)

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According to H. SIMON: "At least some kinds of hierarchic systems can be approximated successfully as nearly decomposable systems. The main theoretical findings from the approach can be summed up in two propositions:

"a) in a nearly decomposable system, the short run behavior of each of the component subsystems is approximately independent of the short-run behavior of the other components.

b) in the long run, the behavior of anyone of the components depends in only an aggregate way on the behavior of the other components" (1965, p.69).

This implies that complex systems are, by their nature, heterogeneous, i.e. made of different types of parts, that can act with some degree of autonomy.

However, it means altogether that every subsystem, on its own, is strongly coherent, as well as the complex system taken as a whole.

No complex system could survive any of the two following conditions:

a) complete homogeneization of its parts or subsystems

b) total independence of the same.

Moreover, the behavior of the parts may fluctuate in a more or less random way, but within the limits of local and global determinisms.

This is still more so in the case of imperfecty integrated systems (composite systems) as for example a population.

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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