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

UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE 2)3)

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"It is impossible to simultaneously measure the position and the momentum of atomic particles with an arbitrary degree of accuracy".

K. KRIPPENDORFF writes: "The principle recognizes the fact that, on the atomic level, any measuring process involves energy which by necessity interferes with the energy measured" (1986, p.78). This is because both energetic actions are at more or less the same level of intensity.

It would be advisable to better distinguish indeterminacy from uncertainty.

The first word relates more closely to any situation in which it is impossible to know exactly and simultaneously two (or more) characteristics of an observed object, especially in the realm of micro-physics.

Trying to better the instruments of observation is practically useless, as noted by H.H. PATTEE: "… the more you describe the measuring device, the less effectively it measures or describes the system" (1977, p.262).

On the other hand, HEISENBERG himself speaks also of an "Uncertainty Principle" (not merely indeterminacy), which introduces obviously an epistemological problem. J.C. TABARY states: "No information about Nature "in itself" can reach us, but merely informations on our own deformation when in contact with Nature: Nature's image becomes the image of our physical relation with Nature" (1989, p.278).

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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