DISTANCE (Critical)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 956 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
The distance at which formerly isolated elements start to interact or formerly interconnected ones become totally independent from each other.
(Also called “Correlation distance, or length”)
This intriguing notion is undoubtedly present from the subnuclear level up to the most global social one.
Critical distances depend on “forces” acting through space and time, in ways generally quite difficult to explain. Moreover, there are interaction thresholds, specific for every kind of interactions, be they subnuclear weak forces or human communication nets.
Crowding (or scattering) seems to be always the trigger factor, but this concept is nearly tautological with the “critical distance” one.
In any case, no complex system may appear, nor subsist when distances between elements do not allow for more or less frequent interactions.
The concept evoques very basic questions about the nature of space and time and their relative meaning.