DISCRIMINATION

Charles François (2004). DISCRIMINATION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 941.

Collection	International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics
Year	2004
Vol. (num.)	2(1)
ID	◀ 941 ▶
Object type	Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model

The act of drawing distinctions.

Discrimination implies separation from a heretofore indistinct physical, conceptual or semantic environment, through a newly acquired perception of a difference. It leads for instance to the identification (R.W. GERARD's “entitation”) of a system.

Perceptual discrimination is limited by physical and physiological conditions. The first ones are defined by basic physical constants (for example the quantum of action) and the second ones by the capacity of our senses to register specific levels of action (for instance sounds, but not ultrasounds).