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

CONNECTEDNESS (Excess of) 1)2)4)

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A system is basically a set of interconnected elements.

However, the degree of connectedness varies widely according to the type of systems. While a composite system is very weakly connected, differentiation in more complex systems is related to selective connections between parts or elements, which define global and local functions. It can be closely related to heterogeneity obtained by constraints.

A totally connected system should be absolutely determined and thus completely unable to adapt itself to new situations.

According to ASHBY "… for the accumulation of adaptations to be possible, the system must not be fully joined (i.e. connected)… certain parts should not communicate to, or have an effect on certain other parts". Hence, ASHBY points out that "The Homeostat…is too well integrated, cannot accumulate adaptations" and… "… it must not be overlooked that adaptation may demand independence (of the parts) as well as interaction" and yet…

"… by developing partial, fluctuating and temporary independencies within the whole, & the whole becomes an assembly of subsystems, within which communication is rich and between which it is more restricted" (1960, p.255-257).

Good examples are the different organs within a living system or the distinct sections within an enterprise.

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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