AGEING
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 58 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
Ageing could be understood as a process of information saturation in the system. As the system becomes more closely adapted, by the precise definition of evermore numerous internal states in response to external noise formerly assimilated, it seems to use up its redundancy. Thus, as it becomes better adapted, it also loses in a progressive way its potential for adaptability and its tresholds of instability become narrower, which implies a growing danger to cross one of them irreversibly and to destroy itself.
Ageing seems also related to growth limits. The system seems to become clogged with a growing number of constrained interrelations between subsystems and elements. It thus turns more rigid and less responsive to disturbances from its environment, until it reaches a state of sclerosis.
Altogether the system may become too voluminous, or overextended. In this case the cost of maintaining long and heavy communication lines becomes an additional burden.
Generally speaking, life is a nonequilibrium process submitted to the laws of thermodynamics and ageing is a disorganizing, or over-organizing process dominated by a growing difficulty to maintain a low internal entropy.