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

BIOSOMA 4)5)

← Back

The indissoluble combination resulting from the interactions between biology, society and machines (G. BUGLIARELLO, 1998, p.230)

BUGLIARELLO, who introduces this interesting concept, comments: "Technology, the process that human societies devised to produce and use machines, is in itself the quintessential biosoma" and "Despite the prevalence of such bio-socio-machine complexes, we rarely consider their broad implications. Nevertheless, our future depends on understanding the different characteristics, potentials and pathologies of the three elements of a biosoma and the opportunities that a well-guided synergism can offer".

The author adds: "Problems arise in a biosoma when there are imbalances among its elements… The social element of a biosoma responds slowly to innovations in the machine element. These frequently require new organizational patterns, new laws, the development of new perceptions or the evolution of new customs"

Moreover: "The human element of a biosoma is bound to commit random errors in performance, and it is powerfully affected by psychological factors" (p. 229-31)

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]

We thank the following partners for making the open access of this volume possible:

© 2020 BCSSS Contact/Imprint