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

COGNITIVE OVERLOAD 1)3)

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A level of information that cannot be registered or assimilated because it exceeds the receiver's capacity.

J. WARFIELD stresses that "The rate of presentation of information for processing by the human mind must be controlled, to avoid cognitive overload" (Pers. comm.)

There is a short-term limit to idea-processing capacity, and probably a long-term limit to assimilation capacity, i.e. to the insertion of new concepts and models within global ordering schema and frames in the mind. This increases the risk of losing any capacity to understand complex situations.

When such limits are crossed, part of the information becomes lost and, in extreme cases, general confusion may ensue. The problem is becoming more acute due to the present information glut in our technocratic culture.

Cognitive overload seems now a definite risk not only for individuals, but altogether for organizations and sociosystems.

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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