CORE (Frozen)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 723 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
- “A connected mesh of elements that are effectively locked into either an active or inactive state” (1991, p.67)
According to St. KAUFFMAN, who introduces this model: “The frozen core creates interlinked walls of constancy that percolate or grow across the entire system. As a result, the system is partitioned into an unchanging frozen core and islands of changing elements. These islands are functionally isolated: changes in the activities of one island cannot propagate through the frozen core to other islands. The system as a whole becomes orderly because changes in its behavior must remain small and local. Low connectivity is therefore a sufficient condition for orderly behavior to arise in disordered switching systems”.
Obviously, KAUFFMAN rediscovered ASHBY's understanding of the nature of poorly or richly joined systems and the importance of constraints.
Frozen cores may also explain the origin of structures and is reminiscent of LAVILLE's concept of permanent whirls, of D. Mc NEIL's model of toroid, and even possibly of D'ARCY THOMPSON's discoveries about the evolution of forms.