CHOICE (Random)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 429 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
An arbitrary selection among a number of possibilities.
When some new design , or device or behavior is to be established and there is no obvious advantage of one type in relation to others, the choice is in some cases arbitrary, i.e. more or less left to chance .
Historical examples are right hand traffic in some countries and left hand one in others; or the use of the qwerty or the azerty keyboard in different countries.
However, once the decision has been taken, it starts to act as a constraint , orienting techniques and behavior in an ever more deterministic way. This is because any different way to construct devices or to organize behavior would provoke costly incoherences, squandering of resources , losses and finally disruptive conflicts . This process can only be modified or suppressed through a very deep innovation and, in many cases, a stressful behavioral adaptation.
In economy, it has been described as “path dependence ” (B. ARTHUR, 1994)
This is the specifically technical or behavioral aspect of a much more general random choice process described by E. ODUM.