ADAPTATION (Cumulative)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 30 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
W.R. ASHBY demonstrates that:“…for the accumulation of adaptations to be possible, the system must not be fully joined” (1960, p.155)
This is a very important statement. It explains the reason why adaptation is, in some way antagonistic to adaptability. The living system needs a high degree of basic adaptation, which is obtained by organizational closure (related to a specific kind of environment and genetically shaped), which in turn limits adaptability. A very restrictive organizational closure implies that the system is strongly joined, as for example in the case of immunological rejection.
It could be also inferred that a high degree of artificial intelligence could be attained only by loosely joined systems of many elements and subsystems, which seems also to be the way the brain is organized.