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

GROWTH OVERSHOOTING 1)2)

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The process by which a system overpasses grossly its optimal dimensions.

A system can remain dynamically stable only if two basic conditions are fulfilled:

- the level of its energy supply is permanently adequate, and

- the waste it produces must be disposed of and assimilated by the environment at a sufficient rate.

These conditions are not always present. When the energy supply is over-abundant, the system (specially populations) may grow in excess up to a non-permanently sustainable level. Worse still, this generally increases waste production and can make it unassimilable by the environment, in which case the system may asphyxiate in its waste.

The main problem here is that many systems also suffer of the effects of a time-lag: the nefarious side effects are not perceived until they become overpowering and in some cases an irreversible destructive situation develops.

This is probably a danger that presently threatens mankind under various disguises.

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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