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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.

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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.

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EQUILIBRIUM (Punctuated) 1)5)

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The enhancement by successive stages, of fitness of some natural or artificial species.

The concept was originally proposed by H.J. Mac GILLAVRAY and developed by S.J. GOULD and N. ELDREDGE, as a model of evolution by jumps (L.M.VAN VALEN, 1995, p.270).

It has now been modelized by W.D. HILLIS, on a population of 65.536 artificial elements ("Ramps" - elements which climb a "fitness ramp"), each element being endowed with a number of "genetic" characteristics that can freely recombine in a network. "Testing the fitness of his "ramps" against a problem in their environment, he showed that "their gains in fitness proceeded by "punctuated equilibrium" – periods of stability were shattered by sudden leaps in fitness (as if)… evolution had found a new power that enabled the Ramps to deal with their environment more effectively… When HILLIS examined the "genomes" of the Ramps during the presumably stable period of equilibrium… he found that the gene pool was actually seething with activity, setting the stage for the next leap" (S. LEVY, 1992, p.206).

Just as in evolution of the living, this process of artificial evolution includes first diversification ("typogenesis"), next variation within narrow limits ("typostasis") and finally senescence by overspecialization ("typolysis") (On typolysis in animal species, see H. DECUGIS, 1941).

Punctuated equilibrium seems thus to be a general property of networks composed of numerous variable elements in interaction. This could be important in economics, management and social sciences.

Punctuated equilibrium implies that nature can be understood as a non-equilibrium system.

P. BAK writes: "The concept of punctuated equilibrium turns out to be at the heart of the dynamics of complex systems. Large intermittent bursts have no place in equilibrium systems, but are ubiquitous in history, biology and economics" (1996, p.29)

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

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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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