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

MAXIMIZATION PRINCIPLE (LOTKA) 1)4)

"In every instance considered, natural selection will so operate as to increase the total flux through the system, so long as there is presented an unutilized residue of matter and available energy" (1922, p.148).

It is noteworthy that LOTKA himself seemingly never used the expression "Maximization Principle", which allows for dubious interpretations. (see below: "Maximum power principle").

In any environment, there is always room for a species able to utilize some free energy. The very important consequence – in particular for the human species – has been thus described by LOTKA, in 1924: "Such a species will therefore, other things being equal, tend to grow in extent (numbers) and this growth will further increase the flux of energy through the system" (1956, p.357).

This is exactly what happened with our species, particularly since we learned to use fossil energy. Combined with structuration through dissipation as explained by PRIGOGINE, the Principle could be considered as the prime mover of all of human history.

In 1945, LOTKA added a caveat that nobody seriously heeded, even if it could very well be the key to the future history of mankind: "The principle contains a reservation: a maximum compatible with the constraints" (1945, p.192).

In an environment globally exploited, the decisive constraint could be the massive accumulation of non-recycled waste, particularly thermal waste.

We are unaware of Gaia's constraints or choose to ignore them. This could have portentous consequences.

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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