International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

In PRIGOGINE's words, a "new order principle" may appear "that corresponds essentially to an amplification of fluctuations and to their ultimate stabilization by the flow of matter and energy from the surroundings. He calls this principle "order through fluctuations". An additional important element should be pointed out: "The shaping of a fluctuation of a given type is fundamentally a stochastic process. The response of the system to this fluctuation is a deterministic process, obeying the macroscopic laws as long as the system can damp the fluctuations. Now, in the domain of formation of a new structure, fluctuations are amplified and drive the average values to the new regime. Thus, in this region the macroscopic description in terms of averages breaks down and the evolution acquires an essentially statistical character.

"We have then a picture of a system evolving through instabilities: In the neighbourhood of a stable regime, evolution is essentially deterministic in the sense that the small fluctuations arising continuously are damped. But near a transition threshold the evolution becomes a stochastic process in the sense that the final state will depend on the probability of creating a fluctuation of a given type. Of course, once this probability is appreciable, the system will eventually reach a unique (apart from small fluctuations) stable state, once the boundary conditions are specified. This state will then be the starting point for further evolution" (1973, p.587-8).

E. JANTSCH writes: "… PRIGOGINE shows for the physical domain that partially open systems in a state of sufficient nonequilibrium (so-called dissipative structures) try to maintain their capability for energy exchange with the environment by switching to a new dynamic regime whenever entropy production becomes stifled in the old regime. This is the principle of 'order through fluctuation' which reverses some of the dynamic characteristics holding for closed systems and systems near equilibrium" (1976, p. 38-9).

Let us remember that in this work we prefer to use the term 'isolated' instead of 'closed' for abstract models of systems to which the 2nd Law is applicable without any restriction.

JANTSCH adds: "In particular, order may increase (whereas in closed or near-equilibrium systems, according to the second law of thermodynamics, it can only change toward greater disorder), and the response to fluctuations (which may themselves be random) is the less random the more degrees of freedom the system has" (p.39).

This is probably the basic reason for some very fundamental effects we are presently witnessing in contemporaneous societies, as:

- an exponential growth of energy consumption

- more and more violent economic, ecological and social fluctuations

- the appearence of evermore complex organizational structures (as for example numerous megalopolis)

- the enormous increase in the production of waste of all kinds.

Remains to be seen if a more global planetary system of higher complexity will emerge.

An intriguing relation with GRASSÉ's stigmergy, is considered by PRIGOGINE, who, in relation to GRASSÉ's concept considers that any originally random fluctuation may become the original nucleus for dissipative structuration. This provides a connection with the model of order from noise.