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

EQUILIBRIUM STATES 2)

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Any equilibrium is necessarily related to the specific dynamics of the environment on which it depends for its permanence or modification. According to R.N. ADAMS: "Equilibrium structures do not have to do anything to maintain equilibrium; the environment does it all" (1988, p.124).

Three different states of equilibrium are generally recognized, as exemplified by ASHBY (see "Equilibrium"):

What differs in these three different types of equilibrium is the importance of the environmental disturbance needed to modify the existing state.

From the topological viewpoint, the same states could possibly be characterized as follows:

- stable: immobility after convergence on a uni-dimensional attractor;

- neutral: indefinition within the limits of a two dimensional attractor;

- unstable: included within a chaotic attractor, or runing toward a one dimensional attractor.

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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