BOOLEAN NK NETWORK (Autonomous random)
Charles François (2004). BOOLEAN NK NETWORK (Autonomous random), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 319.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 319 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A Boolean network whose inputs are all of endogenous origin.
Such networks are used by St. KAUFFMAN for the study of biological systems (1991), but have obviouly a potentially wider field of applications, as for example in languages and in natural or artificial social systems.
The concept also seems to be related to autopoiesis, organizational closure and auto-catalytic hypercycles. In KAUFFMAN's words: “A critical feature of random Boolean networks is that they have a finite number of states. A system must therefore eventually reenter a state that it has previously encountered… It will consequently cycle repeatedly through the same states” (p.66)
For a full development of the NK model, see reference.